


Fallen Angel

by JadelynTate



Series: Darcy's Charm [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Spoilers, Darcy Lewis-centric, Darcy did not sign up for this shit, Do not touch Thor's stuff, Gen, Multi, NO rape, Or Tony's, Or really any of the Avengers, Rape/Non-con Elements, but not consensual acts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 22:52:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3996103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadelynTate/pseuds/JadelynTate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the loss of the Winter Soldier and the increasing attacks on HYDRA from the Avengers, Strucker gets a bit desperate to find something to defend their work in Sokovia that isn't two mentally unstable twins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I have warned for Rape/Non-Con because Darcy is forced into something she wants no part in. It is not sexual but it is VERY against her wishes.

**_He told the tale so many times  
_** About the dream not meant to be  
In a world of the free  
"Deceiver of Fools' , Within Temptation 

“We have lost control of the Asset. And the twins are not stable enough for defense.”

“Agreed.”

The room was silent for a long moment.

“We could...improvise.”

“What do you suggest?”

“We could try again.” 

“We failed but for two. We do not yet know what went wrong with the other ninety-eight.”

“No, we do not....but I do not believe it was anything we could have done.”

“Then what was it?”

“The Twins found something to focus on, that withstood the effects of the process.”

“...Their hatred for Tony Stark.”

“Yes.” 

“You propose we find someone with something to hold onto equal to that hatred.” 

“I do.”

“And where do you propose we find someone of such...focus?"

“They took our Asset. Perhaps we should take one of theirs.” 

A flip was switched and a screen flickered to life in the darkened room, of a young woman in a long black gown, glasses perched jauntily on her nose. Her brown hair was barely held in place by the cap on her head, and she had an arm punched in the air in triumph, a diploma grasped tightly in it. She was beaming as she stood surrounded by a group of people who looked almost as excited as she was.

“The twins focused on their hatred. She...she will focus on her friends. Let's see if love is truly more powerful than hatred."


	2. Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fallen from grace, help me rise again.  
> Fallen from grace, help me through.

  
__**“Fallen from grace, help me rise again.  
Fallen from grace, help me through.”**  
Grace  
Within Temptation

**  
New York  
**  
Darcy was a hairs breath away from saying fuck it and accepting Tony Stark’s ridiculous offer.

She’d known going into this that the job market wasn’t the greatest but it really should not be this hard to find employment with a fucking _Masters_. She had letters of recommendation from Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, _and_ Pepper Potts. She had a solid 4.0 GPA for all of high school AND university, she’d done three different internships through her years at Culver and always got top marks for it, and she could cook. She was fucking awesome, okay, so why did no one want to hire her? 

Perhaps the problem was listing Thor as a reference? One prospective employer had clearly not believed she knew the Asgardian and her telling him she’d tased him in New Mexico had literally gotten her laughed out of the office.

She sniffed. She didn’t want to work in the Latverian embassy anyway.

Huffing a deep breath of frustration, she pulled up the classifieds again. Surely there was _something_ she could do instead of making sure persnickety scientists she didn’t know ate and drank and slept?

Two hours later, she still wasn’t getting anywhere. She’d emailed her credentials to three possibilities and had immediately gotten two politely worded “not interested” replies back. The third had yet to do so but she didn’t doubt it would be a no too. On top of that, the interview she was supposed to have had the next day with the mayors office was canceled as they had found their guy and therefore didn’t need to interview her. 

Deciding she had had enough for the day, she packed up her things from the table she’d been haunting for the better part of the afternoon and headed out. It was cold, still not quite summer though everyone said it was spring, so she burrowed into her jacket in the hope of taking the warmth of the coffee shop with her the three blocks to her apartment building. Pepper and Tony were paying her rent until she found a job and the longer it took, the more guilty she felt about mooching. Maybe the job wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded…?

“No,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head. “You can do this without resulting in a pity offer. Someone’s gonna see your awesomeness and you will be greatness personified.”

“Agreed,” someone said and she blinked, looking up in confusion. She was surrounded by people also trying to escape the cold so she didn’t know who had said that. Then a sudden pricking in her side caught her attention and she had just enough time to think “Oh, crap” before her vision started going hazy. 

“Help!” she said but the words came out gargled, whatever it was she’d been doused with working stupidly quick. The people around her ignored her and the one person who didn’t was quickly waved away by a man in a long black woolen coat and a black top hat on his head. 

“She’s feeling a bit sick from jet-lag,” he said in an accent that she couldn’t quite place with her head swimming as it was. “She’ll be fine when we get her home. No worries.” 

Then, because she was pretty much screwed in the bad way, he practically dragged her into a nearby car. The last thing she saw as she finally lost consciousness in the backseat was the man’s face.

_Great,_ she thought as he faded away, _she was being kidnapped by a human Mr. Peanut._

**HYDRA Research Base, Sokovia**  
 _Did a monocle wearing European guy really just kidnap me?_ was Darcy’s first thought when she woke up. 

Her second thought was that she really really needed to pee. 

Taking a deep breath, she was just about to open her eyes to figure out where she was when a voice invaded the space. “Good morning,” it said and it was the same voice as before, though she still couldn’t place his accent. “I trust you are well rested?” 

“Who are you?” she asked, not even bothering to pretend she was still asleep. She’d had enough conversations with Barton back in New Mexico to know it really wouldn’t help at this point…he’d always stressed not pissing off her captors too much, cause, in his words, she had too pretty a face to get all bruised. 

She made a mental note to let him know how this went down, if she survived. 

“Where am I?” she asked, sitting up. It was disgusting, wherever it was, and fuckin’ cold. Also, she somehow knew she wasn’t anywhere near the good U.S. of A. “Why did you take me?” 

“Ah, one question at a time, I think,” he said, standing from where he’d been kneeling next to her. “After you have been seen to?” 

“Seen to?” she asked, eyes narrowed. Her eyes snapped to the right when she heard a sound. She swallowed at all the weapons in hand as men came into the room. _Don’t fight them too much unless you know what they’re about to do,_ Barton’s voice came into her head. _Gather intel, don’t make a fuss. SHIELD will find you if you go missing. Just wait it out._

_But SHIELD wasn’t even functional anymore,_ another part of her mind whispered. Still, she decided, Barton’s advice had been born of experience. And Jane and Darcy talked once a day, sometimes more, Thor met her every Thursday for lunch, Barton was supposed to be introducing her to the Black Widow on Tuesday if they didn’t get a lead on Loki’s sceptor, and Pepper would be calling about drinks on Saturday if she was still in Manhattan. Someone would notice she was missing. 

Eventually. 

What followed wasn’t as bad as she suspected it could have been. She was stripped, all jewelry and other odds and ends were taken away, she was cleaned (and allowed to go to be bathroom, thank god) and shaved and generally made very presentable. She was given a hospital gown, the ones that opened in the back, and then was taken to another man, clearly a doctor of some sort, who gave her a full check-up, complete with blood and saliva samples. All the while, Mr. Peanut, as she took to calling him in her head, stayed just on the periphery, watching with dispassion. 

Eventually, they were done and the guards and medical people all left the check-up room, leaving her alone with the monocle wearing guy. A second person came in then, another she didn’t recognize, but he seemed to hold more power, if the way he carried himself was any indication. 

“I am Dr. List,” he told her with a genial smile. “Welcome to our compound.”

“Why am I here?” she asked. Some of her bravado was coming back but so was a shit-ton of fear. If this had been a simple grab and ransom why would they have cleaned and given her a check-up?

“What is your relationship with the Avengers?” Mr. Peanut asked instead. She swallowed, all the fear multiplying. Damnnit. 

“I’m…I’m just a former intern,” she told them, though it was clear neither believed her. “I’m no one special.” 

“Hmmm,” Dr. List murmured with crinkled eyes. “That remains to be seen.” 

“Dr. List has an idea,” Peanut said, leaning casually against the wall. “He thinks that love may be more powerful than hatred.” 

“Gotta agree with him there,” she said before she could stop herself.

“Do you?” he asked, sinisterly amused. “Interesting. He says that in the face of great peril…love will allow the unimaginable. I disagree. I think hatred is stronger.”

“What…does that have to do with me?” she asked, strongly suspecting she was about to be really unhappy with the answer. Peanut looked over at List, who was inspecting a tablet. He finally nodded, looking up with a smile. Peanut smiled back. It wasn’t pretty.

“You will be our test,” he told her simply and then snapped his fingers, barking in a language she didn’t recognize. People poured into the room then, some of them guards, most medical personnel of some kind. They came straight at her. She frantically tried getting away but soon enough she had guards on either side, ignoring her screams as they forced her onto a bed and strapped her in. A nurse approached with a needle and though she was pretty heavily secured down, she struggled as much as she could. A leg got loose and she heard someone curse as her foot met with a face but soon she could feel the needle enter her skin as four men converged on the wild appendage. Her struggles slowed. 

“Please,” she cried, not even embarrassed by her tears as she pleaded with Dr. List, “don’t do this.” 

_Thor,_ she sobbed in the safety of her mind. _Barton. Anyone. Please…please…_

“Hail Hydra.” 

** Avenger Tower, New York **   
_“Hey, you’ve reached Darcy Lewis of Midgard, taser of Thor, Hand Maiden to Lady Jane, and generally all around Badass. I’m obviously on something more important—Jane may need feeding again—so leave a message at the beep! And don’t forget your deets!”_

Thor frowned a bit when Darcy’s phone went to what they called voice-mail again. Lady Darcy did not like to be cut off from the world, always preferring to have some form of communication with her friends and family. He could recall several instances when her phone had either lost power or been misplaced. She had not reacted well and had been almost frantic with the loss. She had usually found a replacement of some form of communication within a few hours.

He’d been trying to contact her off and on for over two hours now, to inform her their “lunch date” would have to be canceled. Avenging duties were, unfortunately, to interfere.

“I can’t get a hold of her either,” Barton said, coming over quietly. He, like Thor, had taken Darcy under his wing, though the archer had done so after Thor had left New Mexico. They had spoken of it once and Thor was fairly certain they both viewed the young woman in the same way—like a beloved younger sister. “I tried calling her Tuesday.”

Thor’s worry deepened at this knowledge. “She has been without communication for three days?” he asked and Barton shrugged.

“Maybe she lost her phone,” he said, not overly concerned. “It happens.”

“She would have found a way to let us know she would be without a communication device,” Thor insisted. Barton frowned.

“If it worries you that much, Thor, we can look into it when we get back,” Steven said, having overheard as he approached. “But for now, Maria’s pretty sure she found Strucker.” 

“Then let us prepare our attack,” Thor said, forcibly pushing thoughts of Darcy out of his mind. She would, after all, be the first one to yell at him for letting worry over her distract him from his so-called Avenging duties. He could practically hear and see the lecture he would receive from the vivacious brunette should she find out. Lips quirking at the vision, he pulled his shoulders back and followed his brothers-in-arms to the war room. He would find Darcy later.


	3. Dark Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they took your soul away  
> The night turned into the day  
> Blinded by your rays of life  
> Give us the strength we needed

  
__**“As they took your soul away  
The night turned into the day  
Blinded by your rays of life  
Give us the strength we needed”**  
Dark Wings  
Within Temptation

HYDRA Research Base, Sokovia

Pain.

So much pain. 

“…Thor…Barton…”

“Yes, yes, think of the Avengers. Focus on them.They will give you strength. You will survive.”

She couldn’t breathe!

“Doctor, what is happening!” 

“She is flatlining, someone get the—”

_Thor, come for me. Please. Bróðir…_

When Darcy woke up for good, after the Procedure, it was like she was coming up out of a cloud, all weightless and airy. The room swam as she repeatedly blinked to clear it and her mouth was like sandpaper (and probably didn’t smell too great considering the taste). 

“Ah, our dear Darcy is awake,” Mr. Peanut’s voice said as her sight finally cleared and came into focus. She wasn’t in the room she’d been in before, this was smaller. It looked more like a cell than a hospital room, with a small bed and a toilet in the corner. “How do you feel?” 

She _meant_ to ask him how he thought she felt but all that came out was a croak. “Ah, yes, your vocal chords took a beating, or so I was told. The screaming, you understand.” 

She didn’t. She couldn’t remember anything of what had happened past them holding her down. 

“This is remarkable,” Dr. List said as he came into the room. He was holding a chart and looking ridiculously excited. “Her recovery is nothing like the twins! She’s already up and awake!” 

“How long did it take them?” Mr. Peanut asked. 

“Two weeks,” he answered. He approached her, ignoring the flinch as he began checking her over. She tried wiggling away but her body barely twitched. She couldn’t move. He must have noticed her panic, because the doctor patted her arm consolingly. “We immobilized you during the procedure. You’ll be able to move again in a few hours.”

“Did it work?” That was Mr. Peanut again, looking a bit impatient. Well screw him!

“Yes, though we won’t know what she received until it manifests,” he answered. “But all work-ups look promising. The protein markers are already higher in her body than the twins had at the same time frame.”

“Does that mean she will she be more powerful?” 

“No, they’re already leveling out,” the white-haired man shook his head. “They simply seemed to come faster, not more.”

Darcy didn’t quite understand what exactly that all meant. What proteins were they talking about? What had they done to her? And who the hell were the twins? Had they done this to someone else? How many people had they screwed over? Oh, god, what if they had Jane?!

“Rest until everything is out of your system,” Dr. List said then, patting her shoulder. “We’ll see what you can do then, yes?” 

“Screw…you.” She managed to get out through sheer force of will. The doctor chuckled, unconcerned.

“Colorful girl,” he shook his head as he walked out. Once gone, Mr. Peanut approached her bed, leaning down. 

“This truly seems to be the age of miracles, Miss Lewis,” he told her quietly. “I didn’t expect you to survive the procedure. Of one hundred one subjects, you and two others alone remain.”

Darcy’s eyes widened. He smiled and like Dr. List, patted her on the shoulder. “The twins will enjoy having a new friend. Rest. This evening we begin your training.” 

Training? She thought as he left the room and locked it shut behind him. Training for what? 

**~~*~~**

When Darcy woke up again, she wasn’t alone. This time though, it wasn’t Mr. Peanut or Dr. List. Instead, it seemed to be a man and woman roughly her age, maybe a few years younger. The woman was tiny, with long messy brown hair and calm brown eyes. As Darcy watched, red energy seemed to swirl in them before disappearing. The man…the man was taller than his companion, with a lean athletic body and a face covered in stubble. His hair looked like one really bad bleach job.

The woman chuckled, low, rough. “Not a bleach job,” she told her, standing from where she’d been sitting down. Her voice was low, with a definite eastern European accent. She moved closer to where Darcy still lay on the bed. “It’s been slowly turning white since we woke from the procedure.” 

“Ah, the hair,” the man said, running a hand through it as he seemed to grasp what his sister was talking about. He smirked. “I can work with it.”

The woman rolled her eyes, leaning over Darcy. Darcy, who found she could move now, moved away on instinct. The woman either didn’t notice or ignored it. Instead, she picked up a pitcher on Darcy’s other side and poured a glass of water out. “Here,” she said, “you will feel better with some water in you.” 

Darcy wasn’t about to drink anything here, not after what they did. The woman’s eyes flashed and her jaw tensed but she only brought the cup up to her own mouth to take a drink. Not a dainty sip, like they did in the movies, but a real gulp. She handed it back to Darcy again, a slight smile on her face. Darcy quickly weighed the dangers and decided she had to take the risk, if only so she’d be able to actually talk again.

The water was like nirvana for her throat, soothing it from the raging ache to a dull fullness. She sighed in relief as she gave the cup back to the woman. 

“I am Wanda,” she said. She motioned to the man. “My brother, Pietro. And you?”

“Darcy.” 

“Darcy,” the man said lowly. “Pretty name. You are American.”

“Born and bred,” she answered cautiously. “You?” 

“Sokovian,” he answered.

Well, at least she’d been getting her accents right. Sokovia was small eastern European country that had been the epicenter for some insane political upheavals the last several years.

“Yes, it has,” Wanda said and that was when Darcy realized she herself had not been speaking. Yet the other girl had seemed to…

“Are you a mind-reader?”

“It is one of my gifts,” she nodded. “I do not employ it like this often but you seem to need it.”

“You’re reading my mind,” she said flatly, immediately thinking of Barton and Erik after their encounter with Loki. Wanda frowned, though whether it was from Darcy’s thoughts or spoken words she didn’t know. 

“I skim the surface,” the other brunette said. “I can go deeper but I did not see a need.” 

“But you’re still doing it,” she said. Wanda shrugged, not denying it. Darcy scowled. “Rude.”

Pietro barked out a laugh as Wanda blinked at her. “I keep telling her that,” he informed Darcy. “Thank you for confirming it.” 

Wanda scowled and shot a hand out at her brother. Red energy flickered into his head and he shook it. “Not funny,” he told her. 

“I thought it was.”

“You’re not prisoners,” Darcy suddenly realized. “You’re working with them.” She couldn’t hide the disgust in her voice if she tried. These were obviously the twins Mr. Peanut and Dr. List had been talking about. She tried remembering what else was mentioned about the twins. “Proteins…” Darcy murmured, mind suddenly flashing back to the entire conversation. “Oh god….” 

“We volunteered because we wanted to make a change in our world,” Wanda told her firmly as Darcy stared down at her body in horror and no little fear. “Is that not why you stayed with Dr. Foster? Girlfriend of the Asgardian Thor?”

“Wait, what?” Pietro asked, confused. 

“She’s friends with the Avengers.” The disgust in Wanda’s voice was almost on par with Darcy’s own towards them for working for HYDRA. 

“What did they do to me?” she asked, looking up at the twins. “What did they do?”

“You did not volunteer,” Pietro, it seemed was a bit behind his sister in terms of just what the hell was going on here.

“No,” she said, focusing on him and not on the woman. “What did they do?”

“Created a miracle.” 

**~~*~~**

The twins left Darcy alone after that, Wanda in disgust and Pietro…she wasn’t sure what the man felt about it all. He obviously had no warm fuzzies for the Avengers either but that seemed to be taking a bit of a backseat to the fact she had been through the so-called “Procedure” against her will. 

Darcy didn’t know how long she was left alone but eventually, the silence, started to get to her. Darcy alone with her thoughts was never a nice place to be. To keep herself from thinking about what she might end up doing, she began humming under her breath, any song she could think of. When that didn’t work to imagine herself with super strength or invulnerability, she started actually singing. She should have known that would get someone’s attention. 

“Has anyone ever told you, you have a terrible voice?” Mr. Peanut was back. Joy. 

Darcy didn’t stop singing. In fact, she began singing louder because yes, she did know how she sounded thank you very much.

“Well, you’re no siren,” Mr. Peanut said, motioning some men inside. Darcy faltered but kept going. She saw one wince but they all faced her stone-faced. When Mr. Peanut motioned for them towards her, she kept singing right up until someone slapped a hand over her mouth and another handed him duck tape. 

She didn’t, unfortunately, have super-strength. Nor did she seem to have invulnerability or self-healing, as they found she bruised as quickly as she had before. In fact, it wasn’t until they were clearly getting to the bottom of the list Mr. Peanut had that anything at all happened. One guy, who she could clearly see _quite_ enjoyed all this, touched her breast. It wasn’t an accident, though anyone looking at the two of them might have thought that. She’d seen his smirk though, the gleam in his eye, and she’d lost it. Before she’d even know what she’d done, she’d brought a hand up to slap him but before she’d gotten there, he froze. 

It took her and Mr. Peanut a second realize something had happened but it became increasingly obvious to everyone when BoobMan remained still as a statue. He was half on the bed, half on the floor, one hand on the bed, the other up to his smirking mouth. Darcy scooted back from him, not wanting to touch him. One of the soldiers poked at him. He wasn’t balanced all that great because he teetered and then fell to the floor, where it seemed to finally wear off. Spread eagle, he looked up at Mr. Peanut in confusion. She didn’t know the language he spoke in then, but it didn’t take a genuis to know what he asked. Mr. Peanut smirked and looked down at Darcy. She didn’t like the excited gleam in his eye.

“Well. That’s handy.” 

**~~*~~**

It took them firing bullets in her general direction but soon enough they had confirmed she could freeze moving objects and it didn’t seem to matter how fast they were going. She didn’t tell anyone but it looked exactly like Piper Halliwell’s power on _Charmed_ , which she’d been watching the night before she’d been taken. She’d tell Stark or Banner once they got her out; maybe that had had something to do with it?

Unfortunately, controlling it on command wasn’t coming easily to her. It only seemed to pop up when she was highly emotional and scared. The highly emotional thing was constant, because, you know, powers, kidnapped, skeevy medical procedure. The scared thing though…while yes, she was terrified, mostly she was just pissed. 

When they forced her to try it on people again, she couldn’t help but hope she’d gotten the _other_ aspect of Piper’s power. It would serve them right. She hadn’t though and she had to get her kicks when it failed to work and the man went splat on the ground. 

They’d left her alone again after that, though Mr. Peanut had given her a bag of bouncy balls to practice on. She’d ignored them for about ten minutes and then her own natural curiosity got the better of her. 

“Stay in place!” she growled when the ball she’d thrown at the wall bounced in the opposite direction she’d expected it to. “Argh!” 

It took the ball nearly beaming her in the face but eventually she managed to freeze it. Plucking it out of the air in front of her, she stared down at it. What were the others going to say about this? She was no superhero, she was a unemployed former intern for an astrophysicist and a god who had no prospects and was mooching off Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. How was she going to survive having this power? No one would want to hire a freak.

She hastily wiped off the tears when she heard someone approaching the room she’d been in. She looked up, knowing there was nothing to do with her red-rimmed eyes when Mr. Peanut came in with a new group of guards. She wondered if they were going to practice again. 

They were not. Darcy was forced to stand up, wobbling a bit as she did so, and was led down the compound. Passing a room, she could see Pietro and Wanda look up from where they’d been speaking in hushed whispers. They were gone before she could really get a good look at them but both had looked a bit confused. 

“What are you doing with her?” Darcy jumped about a foot when Pietro suddenly appeared in front of Mr. Peanut, Wanda clinging to his side. 

“None of your concern, Mr. Maximoff,” Mr. Peanut told him. “Stand aside.” 

“Oh,” Wanda said, eyes widening at whatever she’d gleaned. She looked uneasy. Pietro looked at his sister before frowning at the two of them. 

“Stay out of my head,” Mr. Peanut ordered. “She is to be our weapon against _them_.” There was no denying, given everything, who "them" was.

“I’ll never work for you,” she felt the need to say then because, really, she would not. Mr. Peanut turned to her with a smile as the twins looked at one another, obviously having a silent argument.

“Yes, you will,” Mr. Peanut told her. 

“No.”

“You will not have a choice.”

And when they left the twins behind with a group of guards and entered a new room, she knew exactly what he meant. 

“Is that…” She’d worked with Tony when the SHIELD/HYDRA files had hit the net so she knew about how they’d kept certain people working with them who otherwise might object to being neo-nazi’s. She hadn’t been there when Tony had found what he had on the Winter Soldier but she’d peeked. Now, she rather wished she hadn’t.

“I told you,” Mr. Peanut said as she was forcibly put into the chair and a mouth guard was shoved into her mouth. “You will not have a choice.” 

Tears streaming down her face, she tried her damnedest to freeze everyone but though she managed it once or twice, other doctors simply pushed them away and took their place. 

“THOR!” she screamed as the device came down.


	4. The Cross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cold is your silence, denying what is real  
> I'm still wondering why  
> I'm still calling your name my dear

_**“Cold is your silence, denying what is real  
I'm still wondering why  
I'm still calling your name my dear”** _

**  
HYDRA Research Base, Sokovia  
**  
Pietro knew the moment they Avengers had arrived. Not because someone had announced it but because he’d felt the fine tremors their arrival had caused in the building. The compound was old, which had made it useful, but old buildings had a habit of not surviving Avengers. Hell, _new_ buildings didn’t often survive the Avengers.

“I don’t want to be a pancake,” he muttered, causing Wanda to send him an unimpressed look. He shrugged. “I don’t like pancakes.”

She smiled slightly before something caught her eye and she turned. Pietro, having learned to trust his sister’s new sixth sense, turned as well. 

“Darcy,” he said, blinking in surprise. They had not seen her since she had gone into the machine several days ago. Now here she was, dressed in black leather that hugged all the right places. It was nothing like the clothing he and Wanda had been given…this seemed more official (though he suspected the low cut of the top was more for the men’s benefit than hers). Her hair had been pulled back in a long braid down her back and her makeup was simple but effective. She looked hot. Despite that, he didn’t like it. This was not Darcy. And she confirmed it when she turned to him blankly. 

“Who?” 

Pietro opened his mouth, even though he didn’t know what he planned to actually say, but Wanda’s elbow in his stomach stopped him. Neither of them were thrilled with the idea of the woman’s situation but Wanda had apparently seen Strucker’s mind; if they even breathed wrong, things could end very sticky for the two of them. 

“Freezer,” Strucker called out and the woman he’d known as Darcy turned to him obediently. Pietro frowned but physically held himself back. He didn’t like this. They at least had had the choice. 

“They need to come with better names,” Wanda muttered next to him as Strucker spoke to the American in a quiet voice. His sister’s eyes narrowed. “She will not like it.” 

“I like Quicksilver,” he said and then paused before adding with a smirk. “Witch.”

He was elbowed again. Wanda _really_ disliked the code-name she’d been given by the Baron. 

“Show me what you have learned,” Strucker said then, loud enough to catch the twins attention. Freezer—because he couldn’t find it in himself to call her Darcy—threw something in the air and then held up a hand. The bouncy ball froze in midair. Freezer’s eyes narrowed on the ball and it abruptly exploded, completely obliterating itself with a little burst of flame and ash. Pietro’s mouth fell open. 

“Shit,” he whispered. “She can…shit.”

“Her control got an upgrade,” Wanda said quietly. She was shaken, he could see, just like him. “She did not have it like this before.” 

“Without her emotions clouding her thoughts, training her took very little time,” Dr. List agreed, coming and joining them in watching the woman demonstrated a second and then a third time. “And her power increased as well. She truly is a miracle.” 

Pietro and Wanda exchanged looks. Anything they may have said or done disappeared when it became increasingly obvious the fight was not going well for their people. Dr. List left them to speak with Strucker.

“They are here for the scepter,” Wanda murmured, eyes far away. They abruptly hardened. “Stark is here.”

Pietro wasn’t sure if his sister noticed Freezer listening in and decided it wasn’t up to him to point it out. Instead, he focused on the man who had killed their parents. “Where?” 

“Flying above, looking for weaknesses in the shield,” she replied. “He will come in.” 

“We can—”

“No,” she replied, a devious smile coming to her face. “I will take care of him. You need to distract his team.”

“Lead the way,” Freezer said. Pietro and Wanda both looked at the woman. “My mission is to protect this base. I cannot do that in here.”

“I’ll take her,” he said and when his sister raised a single eyebrow at him, he shrugged. _We had a choice. She did not. She is innocent._

_They can help her,_ Wanda realized and nodded. They themselves would fight against the Avengers but their target was Iron Man, not the rest. Let them have their friend back. Even the twins had their limits on what they would do for HYDRA.

_Are you sure you cannot do anything for her?_ he asked again, even though he knew the answer. Wanda shook her head minutely. 

_She is not under control as we would think it,_ she reminded him. _Her memories are locked away. A blank slate. I do not think I can unlock them without making things…messy._

Pietro nodded and turned to where Freezer had been watching them with a detached air. “You ready to go?”

“How?” she asked, curiosity faint in her voice. He smirked, picked her up, and sped out the doors. 

_Make sure Thor finds her,_ Wanda said in his head. _Or the one known as Hawkeye._

**~~*~~**

The fight was going fairly well, Thor thought. It was becoming increasingly obvious to him, at least, that something worth protecting was held in this base. He just hoped it was Loki’s scepter and not another behemoth. He’d lost count of the amount of bases they’d gone to that was studying the Chitauri tech and not the scepter itself.

“We have an enhanced in the field,” the Captain announced and Thor, who’d been starting to get a bit bored, perked up. An enhanced was more of a challenge for him. He grinned, moving forward. They would find him, he was sure.

“Whoever he is, he’s a cocky son of a bitch,” Hawkeye said, sounding vastly irritated. “‘Didn’t see that coming.’ What a bunch of bull-shit.” 

“I thought we agreed Cap doesn’t like that sort of langu—holy shit!” 

“You were saying?” the Captain said wryly as Thor crested a hill and found the man himself taking a quick breather. When nothing came back, Thor could see concern cross the Captain’s face. “Iron Man?”

“How long did you say its been since you saw Lewis, Thor?” the Man of Iron asked instead of answering. Thor blinked, sharing a bit of a startled look with the Captain. His grip on the hammer tightened. 

“It has been a week since Barton or myself have seen Darcy,” he answered. 

“Why?” the Captain asked. 

“Cause JARVIS just found a HYDRA goon that looks an awful lot like her,” he said. “Your two o-clock, Thor. Fifty yards.”

Thor turned in the direction Stark had indicated, leaving the Captain to scramble after him. It took little time for him to run the distance and as he skidded into a clearing, he found the figure Stark had noticed. 

She was clearly female, with her back to him. Dressed in form-fitting black leather Darcy wouldn’t be caught dead in, she was throwing out her hands and men cried out as they were forced back by small explosions. Others seemed to be frozen as a statue, not moving even to breath. Her hair was the same color, though down in a braid, and the figure was familiar but he wasn’t sure why the Man of Iron had thought it appeared to be his shield sister. 

Then she turned around.

“Darcy,” he breathed out, eyes widened and his grip on Mjolnir slipping. Her expression was blank as she took him in. 

“Why do people keep calling me that?” she asked right before her hand came up and he found himself thrown back by a small explosion at his chest. 

“Thor!” he heard the Captain yell as he landed with a thud, all the air forced from his lungs. Gritting his teeth, he flipped back to his feet just in time to see Darcy falter, head tilted. 

“Thor?” she asked. 

“Darcy, it is I, Thor of Asgard,” he said, keeping himself low. He dropped his hammer, holding up his hands to show he meant her no harm.

“You’re an Avenger.”

“Yes.”

“I fight Avengers.”

“No—” was all he was able to get out before he went spinning again. A second explosion sounded just before he saw the Captain go sailing over his head, shield held in front of him. Thor once more got to his feet, wondering how and when she’d gotten that power. And what she was doing here, of all places. 

A blur came in then, skidding to a stop in front Darcy. It was a young man, with hair of two colors, dressed in black midgardian sports gear. She looked at him, eyebrow raised. She still didn’t look like Darcy in anything but physical appearance but that…that was familiar. 

“Time to go,” the figure ordered.

“My mission is not complete.”

“Your mission has been changed,” he told her. She paused a long moment, long enough for the Captain to rejoin him.

Finally, she spoke. “My secondary mission is now active?” 

“…Yes,” he said, blinking his blue eyes. The man glanced over at one of the SHIELD agents as they pulled up their gun on the duo. She held up a hand and the man froze as Thor had seen of the others. No bullets would be coming from that gun for the time being then. 

“Darcy,” he tried again but she ignored him to focus on the man. 

“Secondary mission,” she recited. “To protect and collude with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.” This seemed to be news to the man, who blinked several times before a hard look came to his face.

“Time to go,” he repeated. He spared Thor a glance. Despite being on opposing sides, it was a glance that said he’d keep her safe. Then his eyes flickered to one of the agents quickly joining them. Before Thor could do much more than breath, the man had picked Darcy up and disappeared in a whirl of white and blue. 

“That was Darcy,” he said to the Captain after a moment. “But she did not seem to know who I was.”

“And she won’t,” the Captain said and his entire body was tense. His eyes held a deep pain as they looked at him. “I’ve seen it before, Thor. With Bucky.”

“The Soldier of Winter,” he said and the Captain nodded. “She is no longer…”

“She will be again,” the Captain promised. His jaw was tense but firm. He truly believed what he was saying. “We’ll make sure of it.”

“Barton’s down!” Natasha called them, getting their attention. Mjolnir flew into Thor’s hand. He was fully prepared to go after his sister but the Captain’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Stark’s got the scepter. That takes priority, for now.”

Thor didn’t immediately agree but he knew it was a lost cause. He did not know in which direction the man had taken her nor how fast he could truly go. They likely were far from Thor’s reach by now, if what he suspected of the Enhanced gift was true.

“How did she get her power?” he asked instead, joining the Captain as they made their way towards the dwindling fight. 

“We’ll find that out too,” the Captain said. “But Thor…you and I both know it probably wasn’t her choice.”

“Nay,” he agreed. Darcy had always made it clear she was happy being what she called ‘the token mundane.’ He could think of no reason she would suddenly change her mind about it. 

“And Thor?” 

“Yes Captain?” 

“Don’t kill anyone,” the Captain ordered. It was a warning not to let his anger get the best of him and he nodded. Nevertheless, as the two parted and Thor found himself facing the men that had surrendered, he gave a feral grin. 

He wouldn’t kill them, no. But fear…fear he could give them. 

After all, no one touched his sister. 

No one.

**~~*~~**

“Why is she here?” Wanda asked, looking at the still and quiet Freezer standing in a corner. They were in the city, in an abandoned house, hiding until the Avengers and their people left. When he’d originally came to get her, she hadn’t noticed the other woman at first, too focused on what she’d seen in Stark’s mind. But when they’d finally stopped…

“I could not leave her with them,” he said with a shrug. “Something about it did not feel right.”

“Pietro…”

“She is one of us now,” he said stubbornly. “A miracle. Powerful. We are a team.”

Wanda knew her brother, probably better than he knew himself. He’d never thought his actions through before, always doing things spur of the moment. The only time she’d ever seen him actually give thought to action was when they had volunteered. And his instincts…his instincts had very rarely failed him. 

“A team,” she said then, resigned to the woman’s presence. At the very least, she could act as bait for the Avengers. She’d seen in his mind that Stark was fond of her wit and sharp tongue; Wanda did not think he would let her remain as she was for very long. He would come right to them. She raised an eyebrow mockingly. “And I suppose you have a name for this so-called team?” 

She’d meant it as a joke but Pietro just grinned. “The Brotherhood of Miracles,” he answered quickly. She rolled her eyes. 

“We are both women,” she informed him. She smirked. “Sisterhood would be better.”

“I am no girl!” 

“Sometimes I wonder…” 

“Hey!”


	5. Dangerous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's dangerous  
> To sacrifice it makes your blood run  
> To throw the dice

__**“It's dangerous  
To sacrifice it makes your blood run  
To throw the dice  
It's dangerous it's what you like  
It's what you'll die for  
To live this life we're going on  
No we'll never stop  
We're going on 'till worlds collide  
It's dangerous, so dangerous, dangerous”**

**  
Avenger’s Tower, New York  
**  
 _“Hello, you’ve reached the phone of Dr. Jane Foster. She’s unable to come to the phone right now so please leave your name, number, and a brief message. Once she’s done re-writing the laws of physics, she’ll get back to you.”_

Thor smiled slightly at the message, thankful to be able to hear Darcy’s voice, her real voice. Then the smile faded as left the message for Jane to contact him as soon as possible. Hopefully Ian would actually check the messages on time for once, instead of forgetting in the name of science. 

“No dice on Foster?” Barton asked, limping into the room. 

“No,” he shook his head. “And I’ve already contacted Erik. He has not heard from her since her graduation ceremony in December.”

“Last time I talked to her was about a week ago, when I told her I’d introduce her to Tasha,” he said, gingerly sitting down on one of the couches. The healing had gone well, as far as Thor knew, but it would still be about a day or two before he would be back to normal. 

“She was well when you last spoke?” Thor asked and Barton nodded. 

“Yeah, she was excited to finally meet the Black Widow,” he said, voice taking a mocking quality on the warrior’s name. “She’s been bugging me about it for ages—Tasha’s the last of us she needed to meet.” 

“Are we sure she was on the up and up?” Rhodes asked, joining them. He had returned to New York for the revel Anthony was throwing in celebration of the scepter’s return. “I mean, I know JARVIS did a deep analysis…” 

“Darcy Lewis was not a HYDRA operative,” JARVIS himself pipped in. “She was, in fact, near the top of the list HYDRA wished to eliminate with Project Insight, largely in due to her loyalty to Dr. Foster and Thor. She was directly under Dr. Selvig.” 

“Doesn’t mean she wasn’t a sleeper agent,” Rhodes said. 

“You ever meet Darcy?” Barton asked. The colonel shook his head. Barton smirked. “Trust me, there is no way in hell she’s a sleeper agent. I watched over her for three months after Thor’s first visit. She spent most of it either complaining about the heat or complaining about the loss of her iPod.” 

“We’re talking about Darcy, I take it?” Steven asked, joining them. Natasha was with them, as was Maria Hill and Helen Cho. “Maria say’s she’s got some info on that.” 

“I had Evers going through the download the moment Stark got it from the computers in Sokovia,” the Avengers coordinator nodded. “It’s not pretty.” 

“What has happened to her, Lady Maria?” Thor asked quietly. The woman sighed. 

“She was taken by Strucker himself almost a week ago, while she was in New York,” she replied, waving one of Stark’s computer pads into the air. A picture of Darcy popped up, obviously surveillance. There was information nearby, none of which made much sense to him but Dr. Cho was already going through it. “They wanted her to test a theory—they took volunteers to create what they called ‘Miracles.’ Only two survived, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, twins.” 

“Didn’t see that coming’ boy, right,” Barton said. “He’s got a sister?”

“I met her,” Steven nodded. “Her power was pretty impressive.”

“The twins were orphaned in a terrorist attack that, unfortunately, used black market Stark weapons,” Maria continued as they all digested the Captain’s opinion on the girl. “Dr. List believed it was their fierce hatred of Tony that gave them the strength to survive the procedure. They wanted to know if someone else, with something else to hold onto, could survive as well. So they chose Miss Lewis. Dr. List’s exact words in the report were that he believed Miss Lewis would have the strength to survive based on the faith and love she felt for you guys.” 

Maria stopped there. Thor was thankful, even though he knew there was more. They had always known the people they loved would become targets, as Lady Pepper had against the Mandarin, but this…HYDRA had literally used their bonds against one of their own ion a way that…he couldn’t even finish the sentence in his own mind.

“It worked,” Dr. Cho said from where she was looking through the files. She looked up. “The files indicate she survived the procedure and gained what Dr. List calls molecular immobilization and combustion.”

“In English?” Steven asked.

“The ability to slow down molecules to the point where they are almost stationary,” she answered. “Therefore allowing her to freeze things and people in place. Combustion is speeding them up until they, well, combust.” 

“Isn’t that a power on Charmed?” Barton asked. 

“Darcy loves Charmed,” Thor nodded. “She enjoys the fact it is entirely based around females kicking ass.” 

“Perhaps her subconscious chose it then,” Dr. Cho said, frowning. “Dr. List’s notes indicate of the three survivors, he’s still unsure how, exactly, they gained the specific powers they did.”

“So what exactly did he do?” Natasha asked. “To the three of them, I mean.”

“Altered her genetic make-up by adding proteins found in the Chitauri organic weaponry,” she answered. She hesitated and then looked at the Captain. “I’d have to have Dr. Banner confirm but to be honest, it sort of looks like they were trying to make a super serum out of the remaining Chitauri organics.” 

“And it worked for three of them,” Steven noted grimly. 

“Yes,” Maria nodded. She startled suddenly and shot a hand out to stop Dr. Cho from pressing something in the file. “Don't open that here.” 

“Why not?” 

“It’s the video surveillance of Miss Lewis’ procedure,” she answered honestly. “It’s…the procedure was clearly not Miss Lewis’ choice. I’ve seen it once, I don’t need to see it again.” 

Thor abruptly stood up, striding away from the group. Mjolnir was in his quarters but he could feel it pulsing, wanting to come and join him. He took several deep breaths to calm himself down. The Man of Iron did not need to replace the glass in the tower again. 

“What about her working for HYDRA?” Colonel Rhodes asked. “How’d that happen?” 

“HYDRA has a device that allows them to completely wipe someone’s memories from their mind,” Natasha was the one to answer. “We’ve seen it before, in DC. It’s part of how they controlled the Winter Soldier.” 

“But Bucky was able to break it, his memories started coming back…or at least made him pause from killing me,” Steven said behind him. “I saw the same thing when Thor and I were facing Darcy. She clearly recognized Thor’s name and it wasn’t because he was an Avenger.” 

“So we can break the memory barrier,” Maria said. “Get her back.”

“If we can find her,” Barton said and he sounded almost as agitated as Thor himself felt. It wouldn’t show, of course, but in the months since he’d returned permanently to Midgard, Thor had gotten to know Barton fairly well through Darcy and even Jane. “She’s with Roadrunner and that mind-chick.” 

“Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch,” Thor said, turning back to them. “Those are the code-names HYDRA gave them, I believe. Darcy’s secondary mission was to protect and collude with them. I believe her primary objective was to protect the base.” 

“Whatever, all I know is I have a score to settle with the Flash-wannabe,” Barton scowled. 

“The male seemed to understand my concern for Darcy,” Thor said, recalling the encounter. “I believe he will do his best to protect her.” 

“You sure about that?” Barton asked. 

“Yes.” 

“Well, I suppose that’s something,” Barton sighed. He still didn’t look thrilled about the man.

“In the meantime, we do need to find her,” Steven said. “JARVIS, please tell me you’re already looking?” 

“From the moment she left with Mr. Quicksilver,” the AI agreed. “Unfortunately, my searches so far are coming up empty.” 

“Keep working on it,” the Captain ordered. He grimaced. “Of course, if she sticks with the twins, we’ll probably find her sooner or later.” 

“I somehow doubt they’re done with Stark,” Maria agreed. 

** Novi Grad, Sokovia **

Wanda wasn’t so sure about this. While she quite liked the idea of getting back at Stark, she didn’t like the fact she couldn’t read Ultron. Since she’d gotten her powers, she had grown to rely on them so much that not being able to see inside his mind…it was disturbing. 

Not as disturbing as Ultron’s interest in Freezer, of course, but close. Ultron practically dotted on the other miracle child, as he had taken to calling them. Wanda wasn’t sure why Ultron was so very interested in the other woman but he’d done everything he seemingly could to make her comfortable. Luckily, Wanda and Pietro had benefited from this, as Freezer had made it clear she was following them, not Ultron himself. Ultron had taken that to mean he needed to try harder to win her loyalty, which just continued the cycle. If he’d been human, it might have been as if he were courting her but…he wasn’t human. He was a machine, albeit a very smart one. There had to be something else to it. 

“I’m hungry,” Pietro said. “I’m going out for some food. Orders?”

Wanda shrugged, hungry but not craving anything in particular. “Whatever you can find is good for me,” she told him. He nodded and turned to Freezer, who shrugged as she always did when asked for an opinion. 

Wanda watched as her brother’s jaw tensed before it smoothed out again. “I’ll get us some lobster, how does that sound?” He disappeared before either could argue the choice. 

“I hope he tries catching them himself,” Wanda said and Freezer made a little aborted laugh. Wanda smirked. “It would serve him right.” 

“You are unhappy with him.” 

“You should be with your family,” Wanda said after a moment. He initial plan to use her as bait aside, she still didn’t think Freezer deserved any of this. “Not here with us.” 

“I have no family.” 

“Yes, you do,” Wanda said with a sigh. “You cannot remember them but you have them.” 

“You do not like them.”

“I do not like Stark,” she corrected. “I have no quarrel with the others unless they choose to make one with me.” 

“Stark…” Freezer’s brow furrowed. “I have heard that name.” 

“Yes, you have,” she agreed. “He is Iron Man, an Avenger. ” 

“My family are…” 

“The Avengers, yes.” 

“That cannot be.” 

“Why not?” 

“The Avengers are my second secondary mission,” she answered. “How can they be my family if they are my second secondary mission?” 

Wanda frowned, trying to decide if it was a good idea to continue with this line of conversation. On one hand, it might jog her memories and get her back to normal. On the other hand…Wanda knew better than most how fragile the human mind could be. What if it caused more damage in the long run?

Fortunately, she was saved from having to find an answer by the return of her brother. He had three plates of food and a bucket of cooked lobster. “Dinner is served, ladies,” he announced, handing the plates around. 

Freezer didn’t ask her question again but Wanda could sense her confusion the remainder of the night.

Darcy as HYDRA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously Darcy isn't gonna stick with Freezer cause, you know, Freezer. I am taking suggestions as to what she'll decide to go with later on, silly and serious. :)


	6. Hand of Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive me for the sorrow,   
> for leaving you in fear  
> For the dreams we had to silence,   
> that's all they'll ever be  
> Still I'll be the hand that serves you  
> Though you'll not see that it is me

__**“Please forgive me for the sorrow, for leaving you in fear  
For the dreams we had to silence, that's all they'll ever be  
Still I'll be the hand that serves you  
Though you'll not see that it is me”**

**  
Headquarters of Ulysses Klaue, Location Unknown  
**  
Freezer watched, detached, as Klaue took off from the group. Ultron didn’t seem concerned by his loss, though he was very very angry about the assumption he was either with Stark or was like him.

“Don’t compare me with Stark! He’s a sickness!” Ultron ranted as Pietro inspected the vibranium. 

“Ah, Junior,” a new voice said and Freezer turned around to find three new people, two of whom she recognized from the base, had slipped in behind them. “You’re going to break your old man’s heart.”

The one called Thor was alternating between watching her and watching Ultron. Why he thought she needed watching was unknown but something about him niggled in the back of her mind. 

“If I have to,” Ultron said as he and the twins turned to face the newcomers. Freezer stayed in the back, watching, assessing. There should be three more, something whispered and she frowned again. Where had that come from?

“Nobody has to break anything,” Thor said, looking not at Ultron but at her. There was a desperation there and she thought, maybe, his words had a double meaning. 

“Clearly you’ve never made an omelette,” Ultron said. 

“Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark,” Pietro said, stepping around Ultron to get closer to the costumed trio. “It’s what, comfortable? Like old times.”

Freezer’s eyes narrowed when the man looked down at where a pile of missiles sat. They had Stark Industries on the side. She suddenly recalled the story he had given Ultron before. This was the man responsible for their parents…but no, Stark wouldn’t do that. She shook her head, frowning at the voices whispering just on the edge of her consciousness.

“This was never my life,” Stark said. He sounded…tired. That didn’t feel right. 

“You three can still walk away from this,” the one in the red, white, and blue said, obviously speaking to the twins and her. 

“Oh, we will,” Wanda assured him. Freezer stayed where she was, still just observing and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. 

“You believe in peace, then let us keep it,” Thor said. He looked at Darcy, eyes pleading with her for something. She frowned. 

“I think you’re confusing peace with quiet,” Ultron said. 

“Ya huh, what’s the vibranium for?” the other robot asked. 

“I’m glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan,” Ultron said before pulling the one in the red and gold forward before blasting him back. At the same time, two of Ultron’s robots descended on the others, attacking them. As Ultron and the red and gold one—Iron Man, something inside whispered—attacked one another in the air, Thor and the red, white, and blue one—Captain America, the same whisper said—fought off the robots. Pietro attacked then, speeding in to knock Thor away. Scarlett Witch remained in front of Freezer, watching as Captain America started towards them. 

Finishing with the robot, the Captain turned to the two of them. He grimaced beneath his helmet when he caught her eye but nevertheless started forward. Unfortunately, he just got pushed back by the Witch. The other woman turned to her as he fought off another robot. “Remember what I said,” she ordered before moving away, sliding into the shadows. 

Freezer frowned again before looking at the Captain. He was back on his feet, studying her. “Darcy,” he said, voice low. “Look at me. Remember me.” 

“You are Captain America.” 

“Yeah, yeah I am,” he said and there was relief in his tone. Why would he be relieved she knew who he was? He smiled crookedly at her. “You sometimes would call me Capsicle though. Tony started it.” 

“You are my mission.” The training she’d gone through, brief though it was, told her to attack now. She didn’t though, still not sure what was happening.

“I really wish people I care about would stop saying that to me,” he muttered right before two robots converged on him. She was left alone, just watching again, before something caught her eye. Despite herself, she smiled as she saw the whirl of Thor’s hammer fly by, along with a suddenly not-quite-speeding Quicksilver. 

_He shouldn’t have tried to grab it,_ the voice in her whispered. She was starting to really hate that voice.

Thor thudded to the ground in front of her again, looking agitated. His hammer flew back in his hand and as he straightened, her hands twitched. He was making her nervous. 

“Darcy,” he pleaded. “Remember me. Steven says you can. Please.” 

_Thor, come for me. Please. Bróðir…_

She startled, shaking her head to rid of the voice. “What?” she asked.

“You know me, søster,” he pleaded, swinging his hammer to the side as if batting away a fly. The robot went flying, sparks lighting the air. “Please, Darcy, remember.” 

“You are…” 

“Your brother,” he said and she stepped back. 

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes,” he said and he was smiling now, though it was still worried. “Darcy…”

“Freezer,” she corrected. “My designation is Freezer.”

“Your name,” he said, suddenly furious. She somehow knew it wasn’t aimed at her. “is Darcy Marie Lewis.” 

“No,” She said and with that, she brought a hand up and blasted him back. He cried out and she cringed but continued. Finally, a large enough blast sent him tumbling over the side of the catwalk. Hiding in the shadows again, she watched as he got to his feet and looked around before stalking away. He was looking for her, she knew, but how…

She shook her head again. Her head felt muddled, the voices coming louder. She was compromised, she realized. Nodding to herself, she remained as she was, hiding in the background as the twins did what they had set out to do. From her vantage point, she could see when several of the Avengers found themselves at the Witch’s mercy. Finally, though, she heard the witch herself cry out. She got to her feet. 

Secondary mission: Protect and collude with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. 

Scarlet Witch was hurt. She needed to find her. A blur caught her attention and she turned and ran in the direction she had seen it go. Quicksilver would get his sister out or would be able to find her fast. Either way, finding the man was the thing to do.

She found herself outside just in time to see the witch working on a human she didn’t recognize. _Awww, Banner,_ the voice whispered again. She pursed her lips and decided to just ignore it for now. Perhaps the twins could fix her later. If not, better not let them know she was compromised.

“Still with us?” Quicksilver asked and she nodded quietly. He tried smiling but it came out as more a grimace. Scarlet Witch rejoined them again. The other woman appraised her a moment before sighing. 

“Come,” she said. “We must help get Ultron’s metal away from here.”

Quicksilver picked up Scarlet Witch first, then held out a hand for her. She hesitated but ultimately stepped in close, holding tightly as the world blurred out.


	7. Bittersweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All my thoughts are with you forever  
> Until the day we'll be back together  
> I will be waiting for you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd and written while drinking. Um... yeah.

_**“All my thoughts are with you forever  
Until the day we'll be back together  
I will be waiting for you”** _

** Oxford, London **  
When waiting outside the university for Erik, Thor fought with himself. The others would eventually find out why he left and though, yes, it was because of the vision he’d received from the witch, it was more than that. The situation with Darcy was playing havoc with his control. He should have easily caught the Witch before she’d gotten into his head but he’d been so focused on Darcy he dropped his guard. To add insult to injury, he couldn’t help but feel that when the dust settled, he would have lost yet another member of his family. Maybe not to death, as he had lost Loki, but to HYDRA. 

He understood now, better than he had before, just why the people around him hated that group as much as they did. 

The other problem he was coming to terms with was that Darcy was quite likely to want to save the twins. He knew from discussing it with Natasha and Steven that the memories were buried, not gone completely. Darcy, herself, remained. Which meant her fierce devotion to the twins was probably not entirely the conditioning she’d been put under. Why, he had no idea, but if they all managed to live through this, he had no doubt she’d return to the Tower and drag the twins with her (possibly kicking and screaming—her power would probably be a boon in that venture). 

He was brought out of his thoughts when the doors behind him opened, Erik exiting the building with a group of students. As the other man teased him about blending in, he felt some of the tension lift. He had a lot to consider but Erik…Erik would know what to do. 

**Barton Family Farm**  
Barton sighed as he put on clothing that was not his uniform. As much as he loved being an Avenger, some days he wished he could just be the husband Laura deserved. 

Thank God he found a woman who not only understood his fighting, but supported it.

“You seem a bit more stressed than usual,” Laura said, rubbing his wrist. Her voice held no bite or tone to it, like he’d noticed Pepper and Jane’s sometimes did. If anything, it was completely bland. That, more than anything, got him talking. 

“Ultron has these allies. These kids, punks really, but they carry a big damn stick,” he told her. He ran a hand through his hair. “We took a serious hit. Someone’s gonna have to teach ‘em some manners.”

“That someone being you?” she asked knowingly and he felt his lips quirk. 

“It might have to be,” he answered. He could almost feel the power it took for his wife not to roll her eyes at him. He huffed out a laugh before turning more serious. “Course, that’s not the worst part.”

“There’s worse?” Laura didn’t seem happy about that, not that he could blame her. It already sounded pretty damn bad. 

“…Ultron’s got Darcy,” he finally told her quietly. 

“What?” she asked, turning him around to face her more fully. The look in her eyes was, for once, completely scared. Usually she tried hiding it. “Darcy, you’re Darcy? Kid sister, aunt to the kids Darcy because we can’t stop taking in strays? That Darcy?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed. He’d introduced Darcy to his family shortly after Loki, because he’d needed someone else to know, someone who wasn’t SHIELD, wasn’t involved in his work. Darcy had been the only one he trusted. She and Laura had taken even quicker than Laura and Natasha (partly in due to the fact Darcy was clearly a kid sister and nothing more to Clint whereas Natasha had been a different kettle of fish at first). The kids both adored her, even though Darcy clearly didn’t know what to do with that sort of attention. They called her Aunt but he and Laura had discussed the “older sister” undertones more than once when she’d come visit.

“How’d they get her?” Laura asked after a few minutes. That was her concerned mother tone and he wrapped her in a hug. 

“Took her off the streets in New York,” he said and then told her everything they knew at this point, including that she was working for Ultron due to the programming she’d received. 

“They gave her powers?” 

“Yeah,” he said. 

“She’s going to need someplace to hone them,” Laura said after a few minutes. “She can come here. We have the privacy and space and the kids’ll be good for her.” 

And his wife could smother the woman to an inch of her life, was left unsaid but heard by Clint loud and clear. He laughed softly, looking out the window at where Stark and Steve were cutting fire-wood. 

He’d get his sister back, he decided. No matter what it took. 

**New York, New York**  
Pepper’s smile at Maria when she came in was strained. “Well?” she asked, slipping a file closed on her computer. 

“I think we’re okay for now,” she said. “But they want answers.”

“Join the club,” Pepper sighed. “Tony and I will be having a very long talk about AI’s when I see him.” 

Maria’s lips twitched but otherwise she didn’t say anything. She, more than many, had a better understanding of the domestic aspect of her and Tony’s relationship. Partly because of her own past but also because of just how much time she'd been spending with the two of them since SHIELD fell.

“What about the other projects?” she asked, trying to change the subject. Maria laughed outright at that. 

“I talked Sharon Carter back to me,” she replied. “She’s Peggy Carter’s niece and fought against HYDRA during Insight. She’s been with the CIA but she’s already given her notice.” 

“And what do we like about her, besides the obvious?” she asked. 

“She’s smart, has experience up the wazoo, and Steve trusts her,” she answered and then winced. “Sort of. He wasn’t happy about her posing as a nurse in his apartment building to cover him, but he gave her a letter of recommendation anyway when she applied with the CIA.” 

“Good,” she said. She paused and then asked, “Construction?” 

“Nearing completion of the structural supports,” she answered easily, leaning back in the chair she was sitting in. “It’s standing, it’s secure, but it’s not pretty.” 

“But it’ll work?” 

“As long as people don’t freak out about construction crews finishing everything as they train, yes,” Maria agreed. “I give it about another two months and we’ll be completely up and running.” 

Pepper thought to the base they’d been planning. Tony, Maria, and Pepper were the only ones who knew about it, though she thought maybe Steve had an inkling. Tony had bought the remains of the old Camp Lehigh base on the cheap after Insight. They’d had everything still standing leveled and the underground bunker retrofitted to their needs (and Zola’s computers destroyed). The above ground facility would house the face of the Avengers, the bunker the secret side. It was still a matter of debate between the three of them about whether or not the military knew what they planned to do with the place.

Pepper nodded to herself. “Tell them we’ll offer a half bonus if they finish in three weeks.” 

“Half of what they’re making now?” Maria asked, eyebrows raised. She nodded. Better to have it ready early than late. The former SHIELD deputy director nodded. 

“Anything else?” Pepper asked. 

“Lewis,” Maria answered promptly, as if she’d been waiting. She probably had. 

“We’ll be keeping her out of anything we can,” Pepper said instantly. “I’ve already had Happy pack up her apartment and put it in storage here. If she’s outed, I don’t want her in danger.” 

Both women knew how the entire kidnapping/brainwashing had affected the team--no need to make things worse. Maria nodded. “She’ll need a uniform.” 

“Already taken care of,” Pepper said. She smiled slightly. “During one of their drunken nights out, she and Tony designed a suit.” Maria choked slightly and Pepper realized how that sounded. “Not armor,” she quickly assured her. “It’s made out of the same fabric Tony manufactured for Barton and Natasha. The schematics were still in the system. I’ve already had one made up, just in case.”

“Drunken nights out?” she asked, not as a colleague but as a friend. Pepper smiled. 

“Darcy kicked Tony in the nuts when he spent the entirety of his introduction to her staring at her breasts,” she said and Maria choked again, though clearly for a different reason. Pepper smirked. “I don’t fear them being friends. Well, no,” she admitted. “I don’t fear it turning into something more. I _do_ fear what insanity they come up with together.”

“And we want to put them on the same team,” Maria said, eyes amused. 

Pepper paused, considering that. 

“This may need to be reconsidered.”


	8. Say My Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please, say my name  
> Remember who I am  
> You will find me in the world of yesterday  
> You drift away again  
> To far from where I am  
> When you ask me who I am

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to update yesterday but my brain decided it was a good time to panic about the lack of time I have to get ready for a festival where I sell fandom magnets. Thus, magnets were made, writing was not done. I apologize and hopefully I will have more for you tomorrow. :)

__**“Please, say my name  
Remember who I am   
You will find me in the world of yesterday  
You drift away again  
To far from where I am  
When you ask me who I am”**

**  
Dr. Helen Cho’s Lab  
**  
For some reason she couldn’t quite figure out, Freezer wasn’t terribly surprised by Ultron’s actual plan. Human extinction made a certain amount of sense for him to attempt.

 _Well, yeah,_ the Voice pointed out. It had been growing in volume and self-sufficiency ever since the shipyard. Freezer still wasn’t sure what she thought about it. _Though Pinocchio is forgetting one crucial fact._

**What?** Freezer couldn’t help but ask. 

_How does he himself plan to survive an ELE?_

Freezer paused, head cocking to the side as Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch huddled into each other. **ELE?**

_Extinction Level Event,_ the Voice answered. 

Freezer frowned. **That is a very good question.**

_See?_ The Voice sounded impossibly smug. Quieter, she added, _Ultron's not happy._

**No,** Freezer agreed just as he finally lost his temper. As Quicksilver sped out with his sister, Freezer held up a hand before his blast could hit her. The flame was still hot. She moved out of its path before unfreezing it. 

“You will leave me too, won’t you?” Ultron asked turning to her. He sounded…resigned. 

“I am flesh and blood,” she said. “I cannot condone this.”

“We are family, you and I,” he cajoled.

_We are NOT family,_ the Voice squawked in her head.

“Clarify.”

“We were both created through the machinations of the Avengers,” Ultron answered. “We are children of their thoughts. Siblings as it were.”

_Oh hell no!_ The Voice screeched. _Blow him up!_

“You claim us as family,” she said. “Yet you would cause my death.”

“Nothing personal,” he shrugged. 

_He’s insane!_

“Agreed,” Freezer said and brought a hand up to blast him back. At the same time, she found herself being picked up and sped out. She didn’t know if her blast hit but as she looked up to find Quicksilver had come back for her, she found she didn’t mind.

_Well, he is very hot,_ the Voice agreed. _And I suppose he’s not too bad, for a former HYDRA goon._

**Former?** Freezer asked. 

_Somehow, I don’t think he or Wanda are sticking with them now,_ the Voice replied dryly. There was a pause. _And I can’t believe I have to say this in my own head, but the name’s Darcy._

**Hello, Darcy.**

_Sam is gonna have a field day with this,_ the Voice sighed. 

 

**The Train, Asia**  
“They’re going after Ultron,” Freezer said when they saw the television footage of Captain America on top of the truck. 

“To get his body,” Scarlet Witch agreed. She and Quicksilver exchanged looks and Freezer frowned. 

**What are they doing?**

_Talking_ , the Voice answered. 

**But their mouths aren’t moving.**

_It’s a family thing_ , the Voice said. _And the name is Darcy!_

“We have to help,” Quicksilver finally said and Scarlet Witch nodded in agreement. 

“Yes,” she agreed. “We must fix this mistake.”

Quicksilver turned to her then. “Are you coming with us?”

**Should we?**

_Uh, duh!_

**This was not in our mission.**

_Screw the mission! Cap needs our help!_ the Voice yelled. Freezer was still skeptical. The Voice let out an aggrieved breath. _Secondary mission is to help the twins. They’re going._

“We’ll come,” she said aloud and the twins exchanged looks. 

“We?” Scarlet Witch was the one to ask. 

“The Voice and I,” Freezer answered with a shrug. 

_Darcy!_

“Darcy,” she repeated with an eye-roll. 

_Great, I’m annoying myself,_ the Voice—Darcy—muttered as the twins exchanged another look. _I didn’t know I had that degree of talent. Jane must never find out._

“Darcy is speaking to you?” Quicksilver finally asked.

“She is annoying,” Freezer agreed. 

_I heard that!_

**You were meant to.**

_…I am clearly a bad influence on myself._

Freezer turned back to Scarlet Witch just in time to see her mouth twitch in a smile. She frowned but the other woman just shook her head and shrugged at her brother. He sighed. 

“Fine, later,” he agreed.

**What?**

_It’s the silent talking thing again,_ Darcy explained. Freezer nodded and decided to investigate this later. 

She turned to the twins. “Are we going or what?”

Quicksilver picked both women up, muttered something uncomplimentary about the weight, and took off before his sister could hit him. 

_How has he not been killed by her yet?_ Darcy asked as they ran.

Pure luck, a familiar voice answered. Freezer and Darcy both froze. Darcy got over it first. 

_Hey, get out!_ She ordered. _I have enough people in my cranium as it is!_

It is good to hear you again, Wanda whispered before she withdrew.

_Yeah, yeah, yeah,_ Darcy muttered but she was smiling. _Telepathy aside, its good to be heard._

Neither realized that while Darcy had been the one to speak, Freezer was the one who smiled. 

They stopped then and Freezer and Darcy stumbled off the speedster. Wanda was much more graceful about it but then, she had more practice. As the women watched, Pietro sped past Ultron, attacking and protecting the Captain. Ultron turned then and Wanda’s hands flew up and part of the train moved to create a barrier. The Captain got to his feet as Ultron stopped and stared at the two of them. 

“Please don’t do this,” Ultron said and she almost thought he was pleading. His eyes flickered between both of them.

“What choice do we have?” the witch asked, keeping the barrier in place. Of course, this put Pietro on the other side but he had the Captain. Speaking of Steve…He was looking at the two of them like he wasn’t quite sure what to think but was innately hopeful. 

_You called him Steve,_ Darcy suddenly said. 

**What?**

_Steve, you called him Steve,_ she repeated. 

**Why did I call him Steve?**

“ _Because that’s his name,_ ” Darcy said and it wasn’t all in her head, it was aloud. Softly, yes, but aloud. Freezer twitched but before she could do anything, the Captain was looking at the trio. 

“We need to clear the front of the train,” he said and Pietro nodded before speeding away. Satisfied, he turned to the two women. “Can you stop this thing?” It was unclear which one he was talking to. 

“I can try,” they both answered. Wanda nodded at her and though Freezer had no idea what that meant, she nodded back. 

_Okey dokey, lets do this shit,_ Darcy said. Freezer closed her eyes, trying to get a feel of the molecules in the air. 

“Too fast,” she said and Wanda seemed to put a bit more power into her attempt. Slowly, almost too slowly, the train’s speed decreased. Freezer kept trying but it was simply too big and too fast for her to really get a handle on things.

_Probably for the best anyway,_ Darcy said as Wanda brought them to a complete stop. _We freeze shit, we don’t stop the momentum. Fire, remember?_

Freezer hadn’t thought of that. She was about to point it out but was interrupted by Pietro coming in. She watched as he fussed over Wanda for a few minutes before she pushed him away. Not troubled, he turned and did the same thing to her. She let him for a few minutes before she gave him look. He stepped away, a small smirk on his face. 

“Instinct,” he said, shrugging. She rolled her eyes. 

The Captain was watching this all with a funny look on his face. _Hey, chicka, I need to talk to him,_ Darcy said. 

**Are you sure that’s wise?** Freezer asked. **How will he know it’s you?**

_Repeat after me,_ Darcy said. _Capsicle._

**Capsicle.**

_Out loud,_ she said, sounding aggravated.

“Capsicle,” she obeyed and almost immediately Captain America focused completely on her. She blinked, surprised it had actually worked. 

_I take offense to that,_ Darcy said. Freezer opened her mouth and Darcy panicked. _Don’t say that!_

“What did you call me?” he asked. 

“Capsicle,” she answered over Darcy’s grumble that this would be so much easier if she could talk. 

“Never thought I’d be happy to hear someone call me that,” he said and he did look very relieved. “How you holding up, Darce?”

“You are speaking to Freezer,” Wanda corrected. “But repeating what Darcy is telling her to say.” 

_Aw, he looks like we kicked his puppy,_ Darcy sighed. _Captain America should not look like we kicked his puppy._

**Take control,** Freezer decided. It was a snap judgment but it…felt right. Darcy knew what was going on, knew how to handle this. She should be in control. 

_Seriously?_

Freezer retreated then and the body swayed in place and probably would have fallen to the ground but Pietro caught her. Darcy shook her head, a hand coming up to rub at her temple. “Ow.”

“NOW you are speaking to Darcy,” Wanda announced as Pietro helped her to her feet. “Good to have you back.”

“Good to be back,” Darcy said, blinking. “Wow. That is the weirdest feeling in the world. I understand why Bucky hasn’t come back to you yet. Sheesh.”

The last was said to Steve, who’s mouth dropped open slightly before a blinding grin lit up his face. “Darcy!” 

“Oh, it’s good to hear my name,” she said. She turned to the twins. “Also, stop using Freezer, it’s a stupid designation!”

“Mistress Matter?” Pietro asked and she made a face before letting out a squeal when Steve had engulfed her in a hug. 

**This feels…nice,** Freezer said. Darcy winced but otherwise didn’t let on that Freezer was still inside. Freezer frowned. **Why do you not want to tell him?**

_Trust me, lets get Ultron first, then we’ll talk about my shiny new split personality,_ she said.

**Very well.**

“I’m alright,” she assured him. “And as good as it is to get a hug, we have more important things to do.” 

He let her go, still grinning. He pressed a hand to his ear-piece. “I’ve got Darcy,” he said and after a moment he added, “And it’s her.”

She winced again but he didn’t notice. Wanda caught her eye and she shrugged. The witch nodded. 

**Silent communication,** Freezer realized as the other woman and Steve discussed where Ultron’s shiny new body was. **Hmmm.**

_Shush, I’m trying to concentrate._

“Ultron cannot see the difference between saving the world and destroying it, Wanda said, catching Darcy’s attention. “Where do you think he learned that?”

Darcy and Steve looked at each other. 

“Shit.”


	9. Mother Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once you will know my dear  
> You don't have to fear  
> A new beginning always starts at the end  
> Until the end of time  
> She goes her own way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went to see San Andreas. It was a good action movie but one aspect of the family tragedy hit WAAAAAAAY too close to home so I got mucho twitchy. Anyway, it was good but I somehow walked out of it with a different ending to this fic. Do not ask me how cause I have NO idea. On the plus side, this new ending opens the door for a possible sequel. :) Also, this chapter, though slightly filter, is a bit longer to make up for the wait. :)

__**“Once you will know my dear  
** You don't have to fear  
A new beginning always starts at the end  
Until the end of time  
She goes her own way” 

**  
**  
Location Unknown  
  
After somehow convincing the twins to come with them to Avenger Tower, Darcy went over to join Steve in the cockpit area of a quinjet.

“How do you have a second quinjet?” she asked quietly as Steve allowed the jet to take the pre-programmed flight path back to New York. “And where’s the others?” 

“Currently split up,” he answered. “Stark, Barton, and Banner are already halfway to New York with Ultron’s biomechanical body. Romanoff’s missing…”

“Thor?” she asked, not sure she wanted to know. 

“AWOL,” he answered shortly and she blinked in shock. He glanced at her and then past her to where Wanda and Pietro were sitting stiffly on one of the benches. “Whatever she showed him, it shook him up. He took off from the farm last night.”

“The farm?” she asked, wondering if Clint had finally come clean. Steve hesitated and Darcy took a gamble, “Laura’s nice, right?” 

“You knew?” he asked, swiveling to stare at her. Then he snorted and shook his head. “Of course you knew.” 

“Everyone’s allowed their secrets,” she shrugged. 

“Seems like a pretty damn big secret,” he muttered. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I know, I know, language.”

“Huh?” 

“Nothing,” he said quickly. Too quickly, she thought. There was totally a story there. 

**There is?** Freezer asked. 

_Yes, now be quiet I need to figure out what the hell is happening with my team._

Surprisingly, her alter-ego did as instructed.

“You said…” Steve started and then stopped. He was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, not looking at her. 

“What?” she asked, puzzled. “What is it?”

“Nothing, never mind,” he said, abruptly turning back to the pilots console. 

**The Winter Soldier,** Freezer suggested quietly and Darcy blinked. **Remember what you said?**

_How do you know about him?_

**I…do not know.**

_Fun,_ she sighed and turned to Steve. His helmet was off, his hair in disarray, and his jaw was tense and set. He looked deeply unhappy and if she knew him at all, she suspected he was beating himself up for bringing it up. _Mentally,_ she added before Freezer could ask. The other…persona…remained quiet. 

“It’s like being two different people in a single body,” she said abruptly and Steve startled so hard she thought he might fall out of his seat. She bit her lip to keep from laughing as he looked up at her. His expression was slightly panicked, somewhat pained, and with a whole heaping of guilt. “Don’t,” she warned before he could say anything. She let out a deep breath. “I’ve had this for, what, a few days? A week? He had it for seventy-odd years. It’s going to take time.” 

“Two different people?” he asked after a moment. 

“Freezer—and I totally need a new alter-ego name by the way—and just me, Darcy,” she agreed. “One body, two persona’s.” 

“That’s what…Miss Maximoff meant, back when she said I was talking to Freezer?” 

“Freezer was in charge but I was annoying her inside which please do not tell Tony about,” she said. She paused as his lips twitched. “Anyway, she handed over the reigns. She’s out of her depth here.” 

“Out of her depth?” he asked. Darcy hesitated. “Darce?”

“She was trained as a HYDRA agent,” she answered rather reluctantly. “She doesn’t know how to be doing anything with the Avengers but trying to kill you.” 

“Oh.” 

“But it broke down,” she said and he looked at her again. “The wipe, I mean. Just like Barnes started back on the Helicarrier. I have no idea if she’s gonna stay or if we’ll eventually merge but…”

“He had seventy-plus years,” he murmured and Darcy nodded. “You overcame it quicker because you weren’t under for very long. But he might have the same problem with the Soldier and for longer…even permanently.” 

“Exactly,” she agreed. She paused. “It may take some time but we’ll find him, Steve.” 

He gave a faint smile. “We?” he asked. 

“We,” she agreed firmly. “After all, I have these nifty new powers now; might as well put em to good use. God knows I won’t be getting political work now.” 

“I’m pretty sure I’m gonna get smacked by a hammer for saying this because Thor is worse than Bucky was with me, but you know the team will always have you too, right?” he asked and she smiled. Leaning down, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

“You’re alright,” she told him before a faint whoosh sounded and she turned to find Pietro behind her. “You need something, Roadrunner?” 

“Wanda’s hungry,” he announced, eying the two of them. His stomach rumbled. “And I could use something too, if you have anything.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Steve said, standing up. He led the way over to the side of the jet. He pressed something and a cabinet opened, revealing a truly ridiculous amount of food. “Take what you want.”

“Really?” Pietro asked skeptically as Darcy spotted a familiar box and darted forward to claim them for her own. There were about five more behind it, in different flavors from what she could see. Pietro frowned at them. “What are those?” 

“Pop-tarts,” she replied, already tearing one open when Wanda joined them. “God, I missed these. HYDRA food sucks.” 

“Why are they…purple?” Wanda asked, frowning as she studied the box she’d just pulled out. 

“Blueberry,” she answered. Wanda gave her a highly skeptical look and she shrugged, turning back to the cabinet. “Did Thor have you stock any s’mores?” 

“In the back,” Steve answered, amused. He grabbed a box of protein bars and then paused. “Darce…” 

“Yeah?” she asked as Pietro finally gave in and grabbed a bag of granola bars. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Wanda break the pop-tart in half and study the contents inside the pastry. 

“Has your metabolism…”

“I think so,” she agreed, mouth full of pop-tart. “I’ve been starving ever since the procedure.” 

“It has,” Wanda agreed, now fully eating the pop-tart. She looked pleasantly surprised at the taste. She swallowed. “Side effect of the power. For all of us.”

“And let me guess, they didn’t give you the amount of food you actually needed?” he asked and Wanda shrugged one delicate shoulder. Steve frowned severely before seemingly shrugging it off. “Well, like I said, take what you want. We have enough stocked in here to last me and Thor three weeks if need be—we have plenty.” 

“Thor’s idea of a snack is a turkey,” Darcy said when both twins looked confused. 

“That is a…snack?” Pietro asked, startled. She grinned.

“Well, to be fair, have you seen his arms?”

 **Avenger Tower**  
Darcy spent the remainder of the flight trying to explain the concept of attraction, even platonic attraction like hers for Thor, to Freezer. Her alter-ego had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. It was a surprisingly enjoyable conversation, all things considered.

The problem, of course, came with how closely Steve was watching her, something she hadn’t realized until Freezer had pointed it out. He clearly knew she wasn’t saying everything but thankfully, he wasn’t asking. 

On top of that, Pietro hadn’t taken her comment in the clear joking way she’d intended. Wanda kept smirking at the sulking man but neither would explain what was going on. In the end, she decided she didn’t want to know. 

Landing on Avenger Tower was a trip and a half; she’d never done it before and her giddiness lasted up until she realized it was _windy_ out on the landing platform (the in door parking space, of course, having already been claimed by the other quinjet). Also, high; very very high. With a squeak, Darcy dashed for the nearby door. Wanda and Pietro both snickered and though he had a slight smile on his face, the Captain kept his amusement in check. 

Once inside, Steve wasted absolutely no time running towards Stark’s lab, arriving just in time to find, yes, the billionaire really was that stupid.

Darcy kept to the back of the group, not wanting to really get in the middle of this, even though she really really agreed with Steve—this was a terrible idea. 

Then Pietro ran around and unplugged everything which, yeah, probably not the smartest thing to do in this tower (she’d unplugged a microwave once to clean it and somehow that caused them to lose power in the kitchen—Stark still refused to tell her how). 

At least nothing blew up.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than a bullet came up through the floor in front of Pietro. Startled, she threw a hand out. It didn’t quite stop but it slowed down significantly before speeding again and into the ceiling. Then the speedster fell to the floor below. 

“What, you didn’t see that coming?” she heard and Pietro groaned below them. Wanda, who Darcy had expected to throw a fit when the bullet came up from below her brother, merely rolled her eyes at the groan. Darcy frowned but nevertheless walked gingerly over to the hole now in the middle of the floor. She looked down just in time to see Barton look up. He brightened considerably. “Darce!” 

“Do I want to know?” she asked both men. Barton looked down at the quickly recovering enhanced then back at her. He shrugged, unrepentant. She smirked. “Good to see you looking healthy and whole, birdbrain.”

“Ditto, taser-girl,” he teased back. Something flashed in his eyes as Pietro appeared next to her, hovering a bit. She spared him a confused glance before looking back down at her pseudo brother. 

“You coming up?” she asked and then frowned. “And what were you doing down there anyway?”

“I found Natasha,” he answered, immediately sobering. “Ultron’s got her.” 

“Of course he does,” she sighed. Her first meeting with the Black Widow looked like it would be during a mission. Behind her, she could just make out Stark and Steve’s argument reaching bad tones when a sudden crack of thunder made her jump and twirl around. 

**What is he doing?** Freezer asked, alarmed, as the Asgardian jumped on top of the casket and forced a ridiculous amount of electricity into it. 

“I have no fucking clue,” she muttered. She winced and held up a hand to shield herself when shards of the casket exploded towards her face. Not feeling anything, she gingerly lowered them to find the shards mere inches in front of her. She waved a hand through them to change their direction, missing only a small sliver that sliced into her cheek when the freeze wore-off. 

_Well, at least my control’s better,_ she thought as she turned to watch the new figure staring out the window as he hovered in mid-air. She frowned. _Howis he doing that and why do you have better control though? We’re the same person. Sorta._

 **Focus on the problem at hand, please,** Freezer requested in her head. **Also, we need to work on your situational awareness.**

“Joy,” she snarked and then snickered when she saw the new guy glance at Thor and then suddenly sprout a cape just like his. 

**Physical threat level seems to be a seven,** Freezer mused in her head. **Mental threat level…undecided.**

“That’s…alarming,” she mumbled. She didn’t notice Pietro frown at her.

As Thor, Steve, and Stark did their thing, Darcy ignored that to focus on Barton as he finally joined them. She didn’t hold back, having wanted one of his hugs since the moment she realized she’d been taken. She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him. Luckily, he hugged back just as hard so she didn’t feel bad at the slight “Oomph!” he had made when they had collided. 

“You’re okay,” he murmured, body tense. It was up in the air who he was assuring of this salient fact, her or him. She didn’t need to pull back to know he was keeping an eye on the new guy…and the twins. 

**He has excellent situational awareness,** Freezer noted. **I approve. Perhaps he can help teach you?**

_I’m not getting a choice in this, am I?_

**You are not the only one who can be annoying,** Freezer agreed. **This could save our lives.**

Darcy made a face and finally pulled back when the new guy—he needed a name, stat—focused on Wanda when she spoke. 

“I looked in your head, I saw annihilation,” she said and Darcy swallowed. 

“Look again,” he suggested quietly.

“Yeah, that’s not happening,” Darcy snorted before anyone could say anything. “She didn’t exactly have a fun time in the first attempt.”

“Darcy!” Tony said then, looking startled as he realized she was there. “Where’d you come from?!” 

“A uterus,” she answered without thought. Pietro and Barton both snorted as Tony made a face at her. Bruce, she could see behind him, was smiling faintly. Catching her eye, he gave her a look and she nodded back before shrugging. He seemed to understand and gave a brief nod as everyone focused back on Thor’s new friend. 

**What was that? Silent communication?**

_Yes,_ she answered. _He was asking how I was._

**And what did you say?**

_That I’ve been better,_ she shrugged. Freezer made a little humming sound and both turned their focus back on more important matters. 

“I am not what you are. And not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me,” the new guy said, looking dejected but also stubborn, if that made any sense whatsoever. He turned to Thor, holding out the hammer. “But we need to go.”

It was like crickets had invaded the room, no one spoke or moved or did anything until, 

“Holy shit,” Darcy choked as a stunned Thor accepted Mjolnir back. Next to her, Clint opened his mouth and then closed it before he actually said anything.

“Alright,” Thor said, hitting the hammer a few times with his hands before following the leaving figure sort of like a puppy following its favorite new person. Darcy was fairly certain Thor hadn’t even noticed she was there, with everything that had just happened.

“I do not understand,” Pietro asked, coming up on Darcy’s left. Wanda joined on the opposite side. “Why do they suddenly trust him?”

“Because not even Steve can lift that hammer,” Barton was the one to answer, still standing nearby in shock. The twins glanced back at him. Darcy didn’t bother, already knowing what she’d see. “And he’s tried. We all did.”

“It is a hammer…” Wanda said skeptically. 

“Magic hammer,” Darcy corrected. “Can only be used by someone worthy of its power. Until two minutes ago, that was just Thor. That’s why you went flying when you tried grabbing it.”

The last she said to Pietro, who’s mouth opened slightly as understanding and something that looked a lot like self-loathing appeared in his eyes. _That’s gonna be a fun guy to untangle,_ she silently told Freezer. She agreed without question. She caught sight of Wanda’s expression then and bit back a sigh. _And look, there’s gonna be two of em._

“Darcy,” Tony called then, gaining her attention. 

“Yes?” she asked, turning back to him. He studied her a moment and she resisted the urge to fidget. 

“You okay?” he finally asked.

“More or less,” she answered. He was quiet a moment and then gave her a crooked grin. “What?” 

“Pepper made your suit,” he answered and she blinked at him. “If you’re coming with, you might want to go make sure it actually fits. And take your new friends with you, they can use whatever’s in the locker room.”

“That was supposed to be a joke!” she exclaimed as Freezer demanded to know what he was talking about. 

“Yeah, well, so was you getting powers,” he answered and okay, yeah, point to him. He waved at her as if shooing her away. “Now go, I have to find a new JARVIS for the suit since the old JARVIS is now…that guy. Maybe FRIDAY will work…”

She watched, mouth hanging open, as Stark completely dismissed her from his concerns and walked away. 

“And you call him a friend?” Pietro snorted. 

“He made me a suit,” she said, looking over at Barton. “Where is it?” 

“I thought he said Pepper made the suit?” Pietro persisted over Barton’s suggestion that she look in the Avenger locker room. 

“Tony helped me design it,” she told the speedster. “And Pepper wouldn’t have made it without Tony’s approval.” 

“Cap’s either,” Barton noted. She stared helplessly at him and he gave a crooked smile. “We’ll get you a new code-name later but welcome to the team.”


	10. All I Need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm here on the edge again  
> I wish I could let it go  
> I know that I'm only one step away  
> from turning it around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I highly doubt I will be getting a new chapter out this weekend as I will be working at a summer festival I do every year. Thus, have a long chapter (and a surprise at the end)!

__**“I'm here on the edge again  
** I wish I could let it go  
I know that I'm only one step away  
from turning it around” 

****

Avenger’s Locker Room, Avenger Tower

Darcy had just finished slipping into the base suit when the locker room door was flung open and Thor rushed in. Wanda, who’d volunteered to help Darcy with the suit and all its parts, just watched wide-eyed as the Asgardian swept her into a hug.

“Lady Darcy,” he rumbled lowly as he held her close. She snuggled into his chest, mindful of the armor he was still wearing. 

“Took you long enough, Big Guy,” she teased lightly. “I’ve been back in the Tower for almost an hour.”

“The Captain tells me you are yourself again?” he asked, leaning back just enough to look her in her face but not release her. His expression was anxious as he studied her.

“More or less,” she agreed. She paused when Freezer just remained quiet. Then she winced as she remembered their last encounter. “Um, sorry about the whole trying to blow you up thing.” 

“Think nothing of it,” he said with a shake of his head. He smiled down at her. “You were not yourself and you truly did not harm me.” 

“I forced you over a catwalk,” she pointed out. 

“You would not be the first,” he chuckled. “Remind me to tell you of my initial fight with the Lady Sif during out training days.” 

“Deal,” she agreed immediately. Tales of his training days were the best thing. Well, mostly. Sometimes they didn’t end as well as Thor had been expecting because so many of them had to do with his brother. Some days he was just quieter afterward but others…others she had to find an actual tub of ice cream cause nothing less would sooth him. 

**Who is Loki?** Freezer asked.

_Thor’s brother._

**I figured that out for myself, thanks,** she said and Darcy could practically see her rolling her eyes. Which, considering they were one and the same…wow. 

_I’ll explain later,_ she said when Thor suddenly tensed. _Right now I have an Asgardian to try and figure out._

**I shall hold you to that.**

“Lady Darcy?” Thor asked hesitantly, his grip on her tightening. 

“Yeah, Big Guy?” 

“Why is the witch here?” 

“Cause she didn’t sign up to commit genocide,” Darcy answered promptly. She paused and then added softly, “I trust her Thor.”

She just knew he was staring at the other woman as he decided whether or not to follow her lead. She didn’t know Wanda well enough to know what her reaction was but she suspected it wasn’t pretty. Finally he nodded. “Very well,” he said. Then he said “You look startled, Lady Witch.” 

“I…” Wanda didn’t sound startled, she sounded uncomfortable. Darcy twisted in Thor’s hold to look over her shoulder at the other Enhanced. Yup, totally not in her comfort zone.

“You okay there Wan?” 

“You two are…close?” she asked, ignoring the nickname, and Darcy narrowed her eyes.

**That was not what she actually wanted to say, was it?** Freezer asked in her head. 

_I really really doubt it,_ Darcy agreed. 

“I have claimed the Lady Darcy as my søster,” Thor answered. “And she has thus claimed me as Bróðir.” 

“I do not understand what that means,” Wanda admitted after a moment.

“Sister and brother,” Darcy told her. Wanda blinked, relaxing a bit evben as she looked between the two curiously. Darcy smiled. “Basically, he adopted me Asgardian style.”

“Crude but accurate,” Thor agreed. He still hadn’t let go of her and she was starting to wonder what it would take…then she thought of Loki and decided to just accept his sudden need to keep her close. “Though my father has not claimed her, I have. Thus, she is considered my sister by all of Asgard and as such, a lady of the realm.” 

“Wait, WHAT?!” Darcy asked, yanking herself back to look Thor more fully in the face. His grip tightened as she nearly tumbled out of his grasp and yeah, totally not letting go of her anytime soon. She ignored that to focus on more important matters. “You never told me THAT!” 

Thor had the good grace to look sheepish. “My father has not been pleased by the action so I have not spoken of it before now, but yes. You are a noble lady in Asgard’s court through my claim. My Jane, as well though her claim to such a title is not as solid given we are courting and not…adopting one another.”

Part of Darcy really wanted to know just what the hell that meant for her. A larger, more pragmatic part, however, decided she really really already had too much on her plate to worry about how the Asgardians viewed her. However, it did bring up something she’d been wondering about…

“Is that why Fandral’s stopped flirting with me every time he comes for a visit?” she asked. 

**This is what you take away from that?** Freezer demanded in her head. 

_It’s important!_ she argued. _He’s hot! And Asgardian!_

“Though I respect and care for you both, I do not believe you and he would do well together,” he agreed, completely unaware of her side-conversations. Wanda, after a quick look, was not and looked like she wasn’t sure if she should laugh. Darcy’s eyes narrowed on the witch and smirking, she focused on her memories of Fandral; specifically, the time he’d come out of the bathroom after a shower in nothing but a towel…and it wasn’t around his waist. Either Darcy managed to send it to the telepath successfully or Wanda had already been looking because her eyes widened and her cheeks turned red. Satisfied the other woman now understood how important this was, Darcy focused back on the still oblivious Thor. “…so I may have made a point of using your Asgardian title when he visited after the Convergance. It was enough to stay even his rather amorous advances.” 

Darcy frowned. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that. On one hand, yeah, his attention had been annoying when she’d still been dating Ian. On the other…Thor really shouldn’t be meddling like that. 

As if he heard her thoughts, he looked down at her solemnly. “It is my duty as your Bróðir to care for you in all aspects of your life. I would not have him tarnish your honor, even accidentally or with your full approval. And at the time, you were still courting Intern Ian.”

Just at that moment, the door to the locker room was flung open and Pietro waltzed inside. He stopped in his tracks, though, when he saw her and Thor. “What?” he asked. 

“Her brother,” Wanda offered before Thor or Darcy could. There was something in the woman’s tone Darcy felt she should understand but for the life of her, she hadn’t a clue what it was. Thor, however, did and he was looking at Pietro in slight surprise. Then his grip tightened a bit around her. 

“Did you need something, young one?” he asked, pulling her tighter to him as he stressed the last part of his question. She frowned again when Wanda snickered at her brother and Freezer suddenly started laughing. 

_What?_

**If you cannot figure it out, I do not plan to tell you,** Freezer informed her. 

_Oh, come on!_ she complained. _If it affects me, it affects you!_ Freezer just continued laughing. 

“The Captain sent me,” Pietro finally said. “He said I might be able to find some shoes here.” 

“The back,” Thor said, motioning just around the corner. After eying them again, Pietro went as directed. 

“Come,” Wanda said. “We must finish getting you dressed. The Captain will wish to leave soon.”

Thor let her go then but he didn’t leave. Instead, he moved over to the side, keeping an eye on the two women but also, she realized, on Pietro. 

**Let’s see what Stark has made me,** Freezer said. 

_You?_ She asked incredulously.

**I will, of course, be taking over when we get to Sokovia,** Freezer said as if this was a solid fact. At Darcy’s astonishment, Freezer rolled her eyes. **Of the two of us, which one actually knows how to use our powers and has had fighting and strategy techniques downloaded into their persona?**

Darcy really couldn’t argue that point but the thought of giving up her body again, even temporarily…

“I will make sure you get it back,” Wanda said then, looking firm. Darcy looked at her. She smiled slightly. “And no, I am not reading you. You are projecting so strongly, it is as if you were speaking aloud.We will need to work on concealing your thoughts.” 

“Aye,” Thor agreed and her bug-eyed look went from the witch to the Asgardian. He paused. “And I agree with…Freezer, was it? She should be in charge when we get to Sokovia. While you are my søster and I love you dearly, you are not a fighter, Lady Darcy. The Lady Freezer is.” 

“How did you know about her?” 

“My mother may have focused more on Loki’s magic as we got older but as young boys, she taught us both,” he told her. “The Lady Witch is correct, you are in need of walls. And a new code-name.”

“Charm,” Clint said, coming into the room then. “Also, you guys realize this room is not soundproof, right?” 

Darcy glanced guiltily at the archer and though he clearly intended to talk about Freezer at a later date, he was more concerned with the fight they were going to be flying into. 

“Charm,” Wanda considered as Clint crossed his arms and stared. “She does do that, doesn’t she?”

“And her powers come from the TV show Charmed so…” Clint agreed.

“Hey, do I get a say in this?” Darcy demanded.

“No.”

“Not really.” 

“I do not believe so.”

“Definitely not.” All four, including the obviously eavesdropping Pietro, answered. She huffed but Freezer seemed pleased. 

**Charm,** she corrected. **A much better name. And much more likely to cause people to underestimate us.**

“It seems you are outvoted,” Wanda informed her. She huffed but gave up for now. The witch smirked. “This name, it will stick.”

“If I’m getting a new name, shouldn’t they?” Darcy asked, motioning at Wanda and then towards where Pietro was. 

“No,” they both answered instantly. Wanda’s expression was pained but resolute as she added, “We keep these names.” 

**It is a reminder,** Freez—Charm said solemnly. **So they do not forget the mistakes of their past.**

_And you know this how?_

**I observe.**

Unfortunately, given everything she knew of the twins, this explanation made a certain amount of sense. She didn’t like it but she decided to just let it go.

“Suit,” Wanda reminded her once more. She rolled her eyes but obligingly turned to the rest of her things. 

The base suit was all black, sewed together in panels of the half-armor, half clothe Stark had developed for Steve, Clint, and the Black Widow. It fit her like a glove and though she wasn’t entirely thrilled to be showing off her curves so obviously, she didn’t have much of a choice. 

**Anything else will hamper me,** Charm said. 

Over the legs, she had knee high boots made of a thinner, more malleable form of Iron Man’s metal alloy, with reinforced padding in the knees to absorb the impact when she inevitably fell to the ground. This was also black, as Darcy had been adamant that she not have any flashy colors; he black base was in honor of Clint.

It wasn’t all black of course. Like Black Widow’s new uniform, she had lines of electrical piping from the ankles to the neck. The difference between the two was that where Widow’s lit up when she activated the electricity, Darcy’s did not. The lining remained a deep blue somewhere between Steve’s uniform, Thor’s armor, and Clint’s own purple lining. There were small panels on the abdomen, hips, and thighs that would reinforce those areas that were the same color. 

Over her shoulders Wanda helped her into more armor of the same material of her boots. They, too, were in the blue-purple color she’d chosen. Over that, also in the color, was even more armor but these held magnetic harnesses on the back for the electric blade and staff she’d jokingly suggested and Stark had actually made. The staff she did know how to use herself, as she’d been obsessed with staff fighting when she’d been in middle-school. The blade, however…

_They teach you how to use one of these?_ She asked Charm as Barton stepped forward to help Wanda attach them. 

**Yes.**

_Good, at least I won’t accidentally cut off my own head,_ she sighed. Charm snickered.

Over her thighs were more harnesses that connected to a belt around her waist. These two harnesses held small packs of dyed blue-purple leather. She opened one and found tasers in both, along with a few knives. She blinked but just closed them. 

_Knives?_ she asked.

**Yes, I can use them,** Charm assured her. She paused. **HYDRA was very thorough for how long they had to train me.**

_They’re gonna regret that one of these days._

Charm didn’t say anything but Darcy got the feeling she was smiling. 

The black sleeves went down to her wrists but over them she had purple-blue arm guards that sort of reminded her of Thor’s. They hadn’t been part of Darcy’s original suit and she wondered who had added them…and if the hint of Asgard was on purpose or an accident. Also there were full gloves of the same metal alloy as the actual armor pieces. Darcy set those aside in favor of a simple pair of black fingerless gloves Clint found for her—neither she nor Charm knew if their power would work through the armor and it was just better not to have to worry about it. 

Wanda helped her put her hair up in a serviceable ponytail and held her bangs back as she put on the final piece of the suit. Clint had sunglasses SHIELD had originally made and Stark had upgraded. They allowed him to do a variety of things, including see in the dark and shield his eyes from any debris. Stark had made her something similar, but instead of glasses she had a face mask. They stuck to her skin around the eyes easily had some sort of tinted glass or plastic over them. It kinda felt like she was wearing swimming goggles without the annoying head strap. 

“Well, at least it fits,” Darcy said when they finished. “I feel like I’m playing dress up with my parents clothes.” 

“It suits you,” Pietro said, smirking. She rolled her eyes at the pun but refused to rise. Thor and Clint circled her and she resisted the urge to fidget. Finally they both stopped, frowning. 

“It’s missing something,” the archer decided. 

“Agreed,” Thor nodded. He paused and then his expression brightened. He turned to his cape and with a great rip, tore a strip off the bottom. As they all watched, both the cape and the strip fixed themselves. Thor then stepped forward and wrapped the scarf loosely around her neck so that it covered the sensitive area. Thor’s cape was wide though so about three or four feet was left to trail down her back. It was sort of like a cape without actually being a cape (which Charm didn’t want and Darcy would probably trip over). 

**I can work with this,** Charm decided as Darcy craned slightly to see the new addition. 

“Better,” Clint nodded. “Much better.” 

The doors opened then, Maria Hill poking her head into the locker room. She studied Darcy a moment before nodding in approval. Then she turned to Thor and Clint. “Cap’s waiting. He’ll explain the plan on the way to Sokovia.”

Thor and Clint nodded and immediately headed after the woman, pausing only long enough to squeeze Darcy’s suddenly clammy hands. The door slid shut behind them leaving the three alone. She looked at them, at the red leather jacket Pietro had found for Wanda while she was being outfitted. She suddenly realized just how exposed they were, compared to her. 

“We’ll get you suits after this,” she promised them. 

“I do not think Stark will…”

“You’re getting suits,” she persisted. “I can be very persuasive when I want to be.” 

“That’s true,” Pietro agreed after a moment. They were all quiet for several more seconds before Pietro looked at her and Wanda solemnly. “Are you ladies ready?” 

“We stick together,” Darcy ordered, suddenly nervous about being separated from the twins after everything. They started this together—it seemed only right they end this together.

“We will,” Wanda agreed and it was up in the air whether she was talking about Darcy’s voice or thought. 

Taking a deep breath when Pietro grabbed both their hands, they left the locker room together. 

**Time to get to work.**

**Charm, New Avenger (Darcy Lewis)**


	11. Frozen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything will slip way  
> Shattered peaces will remain  
> When memories fade into emptiness  
> Only time will tell its tale  
> If it all has been in vain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am ridiculously sorry about the wait. Things went kinda crazy for a bit. Unfortunately, I will be moving on Monday and camping for four days before that so I do not know when the next chapter is gonna come except that I'm gonna try and get it out before next Friday. Sorry!

__**“Everything will slip way  
Shattered peaces will remain  
When memories fade into emptiness  
Only time will tell its tale  
If it all has been in vain”**

**  
Quinjet  
**

The plan was actually fairly simple. Half the team would be getting the civilians out, whether they liked it or not. Thor’s job was to go underground to try and find the building base of the drones. Banner would be looking for Black Widow. The rest would be working on finding Ultron and dealing with him. Vision, so named by Thor, claimed he could cut Ultron off from the net, which could only be of the good. After that, they needed to destroy every single drone and/or body they could find. It was the only thing they could think of to kill the metal monstrosity. 

“There will be fatalities,” Darcy heard Steve tell the twins quietly somewhere over the Atlantic. “I know you lived here but…you won’t be able to save everyone. Don’t take that on yourselves.”

“We know Captain,” Wanda said after a moment. “But we must do whatever we can to fix this mistake.” 

“Good to have you on board,” Steve finally said after several minutes of quiet. 

“We could do nothing less,” Pietro told him. When Steve’s response came, it was both heavier and more lighthearted than he’d been before. 

“Yeah, you could.” 

Darcy turned back to where she’d been sitting with Thor. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He looked…calm. Prepared. Steady. 

“So…the build up always like this?” she asked and he turned to look down at her with a small smile. 

“At times, yes,” he agree before looking back up. “Other times we do not have as much time.” 

**There prep-work for this isn’t too bad then,** Charm noted in her head. Thor gave a barely there nod—she’d subtly hinted at both him and Clint that Tony nor Steve knew the full extent of Charm’s consciousness and both had, thankfully, taken the hint and kept quiet. She’d tell them afterward but for now, she needed to go and help fix what she’d unwittingly caused without them freaking out on her.

“You cannot tell the twins it was not their fault and then blame yourself,” Thor told her quietly. She glanced at him. “Tis no one’s fault but HYDRA’s.” 

**He does not understand,** Charm said and Thor raised an eyebrow at her. Darcy shrugged. 

“I understand perfectly fine,” Thor stated. “Tis you who are blind.” 

“Let’s hope not,” Darcy joked. “Cause I really don’t think going into this blind will end well.” 

The look she was leveled by Thor had nothing to the one Charm mentally sent her. 

_You’re getting better at that,_ Darcy noted in her head. Thor obligingly turned away, pretending he didn’t know she was conversing with herself. 

**I am not you,** Charm said after a moment. **Whatever HYDRA did…I do not believe we shall ever meld.**

_Yeah,_ Darcy sighed. _I don’t think so either._

**So what would you like to do?** Charm asked after a moment. 

_Let’s…discuss this at a later date,_ she said after just as long a pause. _Seriously, an identity crisis is so not what we need right now._

“We’re flying into European airspace,” Tony announced from the front. “ETA, twenty minutes to Sokovia.”

“Darcy,” Barton suggested as he walked back. He was speaking quietly, his voice soft enough that only she and Thor should be able to hear if Steve wasn’t eavesdropping. “Show time.” 

In other words, time for Charm to take over. She nodded, swallowing. 

_Promise I’ll get my body back?_ She asked silently. 

**Once we are again safe,** Charm answered without hesitation or guile. **I know my limits, Darcy.**

That…actually made her feel really bad, though she knew that wasn’t what Charm meant to do. She took a deep breath and focused on letting go of the reins. She slumped into Thor’s side and he and Clint both reached out to steady her. 

Then Charm took over. 

**~~*~~**

Charm blinked several times as she came to. Switching with Darcy was a bit like waking up and falling asleep at the same time and it left her slightly disorientated both times she’d done it so far. 

**That is going to be inconvenient,** she thought quietly. 

_Tell me about it,_ Darcy agreed. _At least we don’t completely pass out or anything._

**True,** Charm said, reaching up to tap at the eyepiece. Stark had given Darcy a quick rundown of how it should work-it was a prototype—but being inside Darcy’s head had not given her the chance to really examine the tech for herself. She needed to know what it actually felt like and not through Darcy’s eyes. 

_You know, I just realized something,_ Darcy pipped up unexpectedly as Charm pulled up the night vision by pressing on the left hand side of the goggles. _I don’t have to wear glasses anymore. That’s gonna rock!_

Charm blinked herself, a bit caught off guard. **You had to wear corrective lenses?**

_Yeah,_ Darcy agreed. _I guess that’s something to add to the pro column, dismal as it is._

**Indeed,** she agreed. **Now hush, I need to experiment.**

_Fine, but I’m closing my eyes,_ Darcy replied in a grumpy voice. _That thing gives me a headache._

Now that Darcy mentioned it, Charm could feel the faint pounding in her temples. **Hmmm. That’s a distraction. Should I inform Iron Man?**

_Probably,_ the other woman answered. _He said it was a prototype, right? He’ll probably want to know._

“Iron Man,” she called out and the inventor glanced over. “The ocular device is giving me a headache.”

Iron Man and Captain America both frowned. “Is it going to affect you in the field?” the Captain asked. 

“No,” she answered decisively. “Though I will remove it if you think I should.”

“No,” he decided after a minutes. He looked at the inventor, who was still flying the aircraft but was studying her more than the computer in front of him. “Stark?” 

“Could be just the adjustment,” Iron Man said. “You get headaches after getting a new prescription?” 

_He’s right,_ Darcy said. _I do. This feels a bit like that._

“That sounds like it could be it,” she said aloud. “If that’s the case, I should be recovered by the time we get to Sokovia.” 

Iron Man nodded. “Let me know if anything else pops up,” he ordered, already turning back to the pilot’s console. Captain America was still frowning but some of Darcy’s talks of silent communication told her this wasn’t about the headache. 

“You sure you’re okay?” he finally asked, eyes slightly narrowed. 

“I am performing adequately,” she answered. 

“She’s fine, Captain,” Scarlet Witch spoke up. “She’s prepared for the fight is all.” 

You speak slightly different from Darcy, the woman’s voice whispered in her mind. He’s noticed.

Darcy cursed. _Is he gonna send us back?_

No, he knows he needs you, Scarlet Witch replied.

**Besides, we’re too close to Sokovia already,** Charm added. **It makes no strategic or tactical sense.**

We have too few operatives as it is, Scarlet Witch added. He cannot afford to send you back, not for something like this.

_Okey dokey,_ Darcy said. _In that case, I’m going to sleep. I’d rather not see any of this anyway—I have enough nightmares from New Mexico and London as it is._

You can sleep? the Witch asked in surprise. A quick glance at her face told Charm the surprise wasn’t just in her mental voice; Quicksilver was looking between her and Charm with something like suspicion. 

_Not like you think,_ Darcy answered. _But I can be quiet._

“Is that so?” Thor murmured next to her. “Then you truly have changed, Lady Darcy, and perhaps for the better.”

_Hey!_

Charm and Scarlet Witch both chuckled. Unfortunately, the Captain had still been watching and the chuckle did not seem to have reassured him. 

“Thor?” he asked. 

“It is fine, Captain,” Thor assured him as Charm went back to fiddling with the ocular device and Darcy continued pouting. “Charm shall be a formidable ally in the upcoming battle.” 

Still nervous, the Captain nevertheless seemed to trust Thor and let the matter drop. 

Then Iron Man announced the drop into Sokovia.


	12. Stand My Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I won't give in  
> No more denying, I've got to face it  
> Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside  
> If I don't make it, someone else will  
> Stand my ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is easily longer than most of my chapters end up being but I couldn't find a good stopping point that I liked. Also, its been four days. I figured you all deserved a treat. 
> 
> And yes, I have been waiting since chapter one to use the following lyrics...

__**“I won't give in  
** No more denying, I've got to face it  
Won't close my eyes and hide the truth inside  
If I don't make it, someone else will  
Stand my ground” 

****  
  
Novi Grad, Sokovia  


In the privacy of her own mind, Charm was actually a little impressed at how quickly everything went to hell. Of course, the privacy of her own mind also happened to be the privacy of Darcy’s mind. Luckily, Darcy felt exactly the same way. 

_This is insane!_ Darcy yelped as the city trembled as it rose. Charm didn’t reply, too busy trying to stay on her feet. 

“Stark, you come up with a way to bring the city back down safely,” the Captain ordered as the shaking eased somewhat as they broke free of the earth completely and most of the buildings that were going to fall had already done so. “The rest of us have one job. Tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt em back. You get killed…walk it off.” 

_As far as motivational speeches go…_ Darcy trailed off. _Actually, no, that was pretty damn motivational. We fail, we die, so don’t fail._

**Agreed.**

**~~*~~**

“How could I let this happen?” Wanda said to herself as she crawled on the floor of the building Hawkeye had thrown the two of them into to evade the drones. Charm joined them after a moment and though part of her relaxed at her ally being so near, mostly she was just too scared. 

“Hey, hey, you okay?” she heard Hawkeye ask. Charm remained near the entrance, keeping an eye out. 

“This is all our fault,” Wanda continued, not willing to focus on him. 

“Hey! Look at me,” Barton ordered and she finally did as she was told, seeing his frantic expression as he studied her. Behind him, Charm frowned and threw a hand out. A second later, an explosion sounded. She flinched.  
“It’s your fault, it’s everyone’s fault, who cares? Are you up for this?” he asked because that was the important question. She stared at him, unsure. “Are you? Look, I, I just need to know because the city, the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we’re fighting an army of robots…and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense.” 

Bullets penetrated the wall between them and Charm and Hawkeye both shot back through the new holes, him with arrows her with another explosion. All Wanda could do was watch in fright. 

“But I am going back out there because this is my job.” Hawkeye said and Wanda just stared at him. His job was not fun. He continued, unaware of her thought. “Okay, and I can’t do my job and babysit.” 

Part of Wanda took offense at the idea she needed to be babysat but the more honest part knew he wasn’t too far off the mark. 

“Doesn’t matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill,” he said and she took in deep breaths as he continued. “Stay in here, you’re good.I’ll send your brother to come find you. But if you step out that door, you’re an Avenger.” 

With that, he grasped her hand in his for a brief moment. Then he stood up, took out more arrows from his boot, and took a deep breath near a door. 

“Yeah, the city is flying,” he said, as if to himself, before disappearing out the door. Charm remained, but Wanda just continued staring at nothing. 

_“Doesn’t matter what you did or what you were…”_

“Darcy would like me to tell you that who you just saw was not Hawkeye,” Charm said suddenly from her place on watch. Wanda looked up but Charm did not take her stare away from the fight outside. “Who you just saw was Clint Barton…father.” 

“He has children?” 

“Two and his wife is pregnant with the third,” Charm answered before she saw something out in the street. “Stay or go, its up to you but for what’s it worth, I have faith in you.”

Wanda swallowed as the other woman dashed out, hand held up and her power vibrating out. 

_“This is my job.”_

_“I have faith in you.”_

This is my home, she thought. This was her fault, her home was being destroyed because of the actions of her and her brother. 

_“This is my job.”_

_“I have faith in you.”_

She looked around at the rubble then and caught sight of a picture on the floor, glass broken over the image of a father, a mother, and their two children, a boy and a girl. It was heartrendingly similar to one that had rested on a shelf in their tiny apartment before it too had been blown up.

_“I have a little picture,”_ Pietro had said. She thought of this family, if they had all gotten out. 

_“This is my job.”_

_“I have faith in you.”_

She stood up slowly, fear fading as sheer determination filled her body. She listened for a moment and found Hawkeye and Charm’s location in her mind. He’d been hurt. Straightening her shoulders, she forced the door open as she walked back into the fight. 

_“If you step out that door, you’re an Avenger.”_

**~~*~~**

As Charm weaved through the attacking forces, the city rising into the air beneath their feet. Unfortunately, Ultron must have taken her exploding powers into account when building the new drones because at most she was able to get rid of a few limbs but nothing more than that. _Aim for the heads!_ Darcy offered, still a bit hysterical but not as bad as she’d been honestly expecting. 

**I’m trying!** Charm replied, gritting her teeth. **They keep moving!**

Darcy was quiet for several minutes as they ducked against oncoming attacks and hid behind a wall. Nearby, Hawkeye had found his own spot to shoot from, not that he stayed still for very long. Finally, when Charm turned back and blasted another drone away from the archer, the other woman spoke. 

_You realize we actually have two powers, right?_ Her voice was tentative, like she wasn’t sure if she was helping but also, beneath, Charm could hear a slight tint of exasperation. 

Charm paused in the act of blasting a drone away from the shop Scarlet Witch was still in. Luckily, Hawkeye took up the slack, though he did send her a concerned look before focusing back on the fight. 

“You okay over there?” he called out. 

“Fine,” she said, shaking her head. “I am an idiot, is all.” 

“Oh, is that all?” he asked, smiling slightly. 

_You did forget!_ Darcy exclaimed. _How could you forget?!_

“Shut. Up.” 

“I didn’t say anything,” Hawkeye pointed out. 

“Not you,” Charm replied curtly. He nodded. Charm was impressed with his ability to multitask; during their entire conversation, he never once stopped shooting. 

“Darcy, leave Charm alone,” he advised in a bit of a scolding tone. Darcy pouted. 

“She just reminded me of my freezing power,” Charm felt the need to defend the other woman. 

“You forgot?!” 

Charm ignored him, popping up over the half destroyed wall she’d hidden behind to see Scarlet Witch still hadn’t shown and Hawkeye was about to be snuck up on. She froze the drone, giving the man enough time to realize the threat and take care of it himself. Frowning, Charm turned to another drone, froze him, and then tried blowing him up. It didn’t quite work out how she expected. He unfroze the moment she sped the molecules at his neck up. Luckily he hadn’t been moving very fast so she still managed to decapitate him but it brought to attention something she hadn’t known before. 

_We can’t use both powers at the same time,_ Darcy noted. _Well, that sucks._

**It really really does,** she agreed. **Time for plan B.**

_Plan B?_ She asked nervously. _Do I want to know what Plan B is?_

In answer, Charm pulled out the electric staff. **Sorry Darcy,** she said. **Time to get up close and personal.**

_I was afraid of that._ She sighed. _Well, it wouldn’t be the first time._

Vaulting over the wall, Charm slowly but surely made her way to Hawkeye’s side, taking the time to figure out an strategy that didn’t get herself or the other fighter killed. By the time she was within touching distance of the archer, she’d found a rhythm. With Darcy cackling in her head and making Pow! Smash! and Bang! sounds, she would freeze a drone, smash into its face with the baton, send an electrical jolt into its circuitry and while it reacted to that, she’d have time to blow up its head. It was a surprisingly effective strategy.

Then, finally, Scarlet Witch stalked out of the room, throwing mental energy at anything metal that moved. Hawkeye and Charm exchanged looks. It didn’t take very long at all to completely decimate the forces they were fighting. 

“Alright, we’re all clear here,” Hawkeye said, having apparently realized the same thing.

“We’re not clear!” the Captain grunted through the coms. “We are very not clear!”

“Time to go then,” he nodded just as Quicksilver raced towards them. 

“Keep up old man!” Quicksilver taunted as he picked his sister up and then sped away. Charm watched as Hawkeye drew his bow, an arrow uselessly pointed in the direction the twins had already disappeared. She cocked her head to the side as she listened to him grumble under his breath.

“Nobody would know, nobody. Last I saw him, Ultron was sitting on him. Yeah, he’ll be missed, that quick little bastard, I miss him already.” He began running after the twins, sheathing his arrow as he went. As Darcy cackled in her head, Charm followed in amusement.

“Hawkeye?” Charm finally couldn’t hold it in any longer. 

“Yeah?” 

“You shoot arrows,” she pointed out as Darcy absolutely cracked up. “I think they’d know.” 

He turned to her and stuck his tongue out. Charm thought about it for a minute before returning the gesture. Her lips quirked at Barton’s startled face and Darcy’s subsequent reaction. If the other woman had had control of their body at that point, they’d be rolling on the floor. 

“The next wave’s gonna hit any minute,” the Captain said in her ear as they walked, helping people as they went. More and more joined them, following like a line of ducklings. It finally got to the point where Hawkeye stopped and ushered everyone into a building that appeared structurally safe. “What have you got Stark?” the Captain continued. 

“Well, nothing great,” Iron Man replied. “Maybe a way to blow up the city. That’ll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.” 

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” the Captain scolded. Charm hesitated in her stride before moving on. Darcy was blessedly silent. 

“The impact radius is getting bigger every second,” Iron Man said. “We’re gonna have to make a choice.” 

“Cap, these people are going no-where,” Romanoff answered. “If Stark finds a way to blow this rock…” 

“Not till everyone’s safe,” the Captain replied and Charm exchanged a look with Hawkeye. This time, she didn’t need Darcy translating to know what that look meant. 

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there, there’s no math there—” 

“I’m not leaving this rock with one civilian on it,” the Captain broke in. 

“Aw hell,” Hawkeye sighed. She raised an eyebrow at him as Romanoff planned her own death in her ear. “Laura’s going to kill me.” 

“Glad you like the view Romanoff,” a voice she didn’t recognize broke in. “It’s about to get better.” 

An odd sound echoed through the streets then, like a helicopter lifting in the air but…different. Hawkeye stopped in his tracks, mouth dropping open before utter relief crossed his face.

_That’s a good sign,_ Darcy said as the voice continued talking. Then they heard Quicksilver. 

“This is SHIELD?” he asked and Darcy went nuts in her head again. 

“This is what’s SHIELD is supposed to be,” the Captain agreed. 

“This is not so bad,” Quicksilver noted. 

Then, the sound came over their heads. “What is that?” she asked, astonished as some sort of aeronautical box dropped down in the street. 

“Lifeboat,” Hawkeye answered curtly before running inside to get everyone onto the flying vehicle. With a blink and a shrug, she went to join him. 

Just as they got the last person to fit into the lifeboat, the comm crackled to life again. “Thor, I got a plan!” Iron Man called. 

“We’re out of time!” Thor replied. “They’re coming for the core.”

“Avengers, time to work for a living!” Iron Man called and Charm thought of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver as they headed for the church. Luckily it wasn’t very far away and they met up with the Scarlet Witch on the way.

**He’s including us in that,** she noted to the other woman after they’d both checked each other out.

Seems so, the witch agreed. She sounded thoughtful. I suppose there are worse things to be.

They walked into the old church, Charm taking in the room as quickly as she could as Quicksilver sped to a stop in front of his sister. 

“You good?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she agreed with a smile. Satisfied, he turned to her. 

“And you?” he asked, eyes blazing in concern. 

_Oh…_ Darcy breathed. Charm and Scarlet Witch exchanged amused looks before Charm turned back to the practically vibrating runner. 

“We’re fine,” she said calmly. He nodded, relaxing a bit. 

_That’s…complicated._

Later, Scarlet Witch advised. We’ll discuss it later.

**When we’re not about to face Ultron and whatever forces he still has left,** Charm agreed. 

_I’m holding you both to that._

“Romanoff,” Iron Man said in her comms, sounding confused before he continued. “You and Banner better not be playing Hide the Zucchini.” 

“Relax Shell-head,” Romanoff answered. “Not all of us can fly.” A few minutes later she’d joined them, having impressivly taken out several drones on the way. The Russian gave her, Vision, and the twins a brief look before focusing on Iron Man. “What’s the drill?”

“This is the drill,” he said, pointing behind him. “If Ultron gets his hand on the core, we lose.”

Hulk landed just outside the church, flattening a drone and lumbering inside as Ultron came into view behind him. Charm watched, face carefully blank, as she stayed by Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s sides. 

“Is that the best you can do?!” Thor shouted. 

_Damnit, Thor!_ Darcy yelled as Ultron held up a hand and a second wave appeared, about the same size as the wave they’d just taken care of, if not bigger and more concentrated. _Even I know that's not something you ask the villian! He ALWAYS has something more!_

“You had to ask,” Captain America noted in aggravation. Thor, for his part, was just sort of looking at the force in consternation. 

“This is the best I can do,” Ultron said. “This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. “How can you possibly hope to stop me? 

“Like the old man said,” Iron Man noted, looking over at the Captain. “Together.” 

Hulk roared his agreement. 

What followed was something Charm knew she’d never forget. While it was chaotic and destructive and yes, downright terrifying, you can stop yelling Darcy, there was something almost majestic as they defended the core. They worked as one, even the four who’d never actually fought with the other six before this day. Quicksilver took to speeding around them, using the speed of his body to destroy the drones but occasionally he moved them into position for her, Scarlet Witch, or one of the other Avengers to smash to pieces. Charm’s staff broke around the same time Hawkeye ran out of arrows and used his bow to smash into a couple of drones attacking Black Widow. She tossed him both pieces of her staff and he used them to nail two drones in the face. The remaining electric charge in the two halves blew the drones apart. In the meantime, she pulled out the sword, praying it would hold up better. 

“They’re trying to leave the city!” Thor called from outside just as the drones all either died or fled. 

“We can’t, not even one,” Iron Man said. “Rhodey!”

“I’m on it!” another new voice called. She was starting to get a bit twitchy about these new people she didn’t know. Fury, she had at least vague recollections via Darcy, but even she had never actually met the man. And this guy she didn’t recognize at all until he spoke up again. “Oh no, I didn’t say you could leave. War Machine coming at you!” 

Lips quirking, she turned to where the Captain had just finished his own fight. They were alone for the moment, just Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, the Captain, Hawkeye,and herself in the church. She wasn’t sure where Quicksilver had disappeared to.

“We’ve got to move out,” the Captain noted. “Even I can tell the air’s getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I’ll sweep for stragglers. Be right behind you.” 

“What about the core?” Hawkeye asked, looking over at the device that had caused all this tragedy. 

“I’ll protect it,” Scarlet Witch said immediately. Hawkeye and Charm both looked at her sharply and she gave them a look. “It’s my job.” 

Hawkeye nodded, understanding, and he and Nat left, Captain right behind them. No one argued and no one noticed when Charm remained behind. Unlike her civilian counterpart, Charm knew how to become invisible. 

_I think that was an insult._

“Get the people on the boats,” Scarlet Witch ordered her brother when he came to a stop in front of her. 

“I’m not going to leave you here,” he said. 

“I can handle this,” she replied just before destroying an incoming drone. “Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before,” she continued. Quicksilver obviously wasn’t happy about it, walking around agitatedly. His eyes flickered to her and she knew he, at least, was still aware of her presence. “You understand?” Scarlet Witch demanded. 

He frowned in frustration before turning to his sister with a slight chuckle and a teasing, fond tone. “You know, I’m twelve minutes older than you,” he said. 

“Go,” she laughed. There was a pause and then the Witch looked straight at her. “Take Charm with you.” 

“Wait a—” she started but Quicksilver had already picked her up. “Darcy said we needed to stick together,” she reminded him the moment he put her back down. 

“Yes, and we agreed,” he said with a mischievous smirk. “And you’ve been with my sister the entire time. Now it’s my turn to get you.” 

_Ooh boy,_ Darcy muttered. 

**Not the time.**

_I only said ‘Ooh boy!’_

**Exactly.**

“We need to find you a boat,” Quicksilver said, oblivious to the internal conversation, as they looked at the vehicles still waiting. She saw Hawkeye walking onto one, his stance still tense, not relaxed. She turned back to him and he gave her a small confident grin. “I intend to take you out to dinner when this is all over. Someplace quiet. Intimate.” 

She raised an eyebrow at him as Darcy was stunned silent. “Which one of us?” she asked skeptically. 

He didn’t even blink at the odd question. “Both.” 

Now even Charm was staring at him.

The sound of gunfire caught their attention then and both turned to see Hawkeye, holding what looked like a little boy, directly in the line of fire of an approaching jet. Quicksilver and Charm never hesitated. With one hand, she attacked the jet with as many explosives as she could, trying desperately to force the jet off course. At the same time, Quicksilver blurred away.

When the dust settled, a car was suddenly in front of Hawkeye and his charge and Quicksilver was standing next to it, chest heaving. As she watched, he said something to Hawkeye and then crumpled to the ground blood pooling on his shoulder and leg. 

“ ** _NO!_** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hides*


	13. In the Middle of the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much more going on, no denying,  
> But I know I’m not standing alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am moving today. Eh gads!

_**“So much more going on, no denying,  
But I know I’m not standing alone”** _

**  
Apartment of Darcy Lewis, Manhattan, New York  
**  
“So, this is it,” Darcy said, unlocking the door with the key she’d had to borrow from her landlord. The landlord, a sweet little Italian man who dotted on her, had not been all that thrilled when she had told him the reason she’d lost her key was because she had been in Sokovia. She’d spent almost half an hour down below talking to him and assuring him she was fine and had not been hurt (a little white lie she had no intention of revealing to him). In the end, she’d told him about her new living situation and the man had taken the hint that she and the uncomfortable Wanda wanted to get going.

“It is nice,” Wanda said, stepping in and looking around. She had a small duffel bag of clothing Pepper and Jane had gotten her. It wasn’t a lot and Darcy fully intended to take her on a complete shopping spree but that would have to wait. “Better than the compound.” 

“Yeah, well, _anything_ is better than the compound,” Darcy smirked. 

“Are you sure you do not mind me staying with you?” the brunette asked, turning back to her. She shrugged as much as she could, her shoulder still healing from Sokovia. Or, rather, the lifeboat she’d been on. It was something Stark was still teasing her about; she survived the battle against Ultron and within minutes of the city and Ultron himself being destroyed, dislocates her shoulder when she tripped over a refugee.

“It’s big enough for three,” she said. “Or even four. And besides, its either this or you stay in the Tower indefinitely.”

Wanda didn’t answer.

The apartment was actually bigger than Darcy had needed. The only reason she’d kept it all way back when was because Pepper had given her a look that said clear as day not to argue and since the woman in question was paying the rent… 

It was still relatively empty though, her stuff filling half the living room, the kitchen, and her bedroom. Before HYDRA, the two empty bedrooms had become home to the numerous boxes she’d had her stuff in that she hadn’t thrown out. Barton had told her this was no longer the case; he and Natasha had personally come in with the furniture Pepper had arranged when she’d first suggested the new living arrangements Wanda had all but jumped at.

After all, fighting by Tony Stark’s side to save the world was one thing. Living with the man was completely another. 

Plopping down on her sofa, she sighed in relief when she felt the comforting smell. Wanda disappeared to inspect the rooms, giving Darcy a chance to just take in the space.

**It’s bigger than I expected,** Charm noted in her head as she grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

_Yeah, well, its bigger than I used to need,_ she said, flipping through the channels. 

**It’ll be nice now though,** Charm persisted. **We need the space.**

_Not if Cap has it his way,_ she noted.

**He hasn’t officially asked us to join the new team,** Charm pointed out.

_He will,_ she said. _You know he will._

**And will we?**

Darcy didn’t answer because she honestly didn’t _know_ the answer. It was something they’d both been avoiding discussing since Clint had mentioned the new plans to her in the hospital wing of Avengers Tower.

“Stop there,” Wanda said suddenly and Darcy jumped, turning to find the other woman had returned to the living room. Her duffel was gone, probably on her new bed or already put away in the dresser. She was staring at the TV and Darcy followed her gaze. It was the news, shaky footage of the battle that had been playing almost non-stop in the last week. She could clearly see herself, Wanda, and Pietro fighting the bots, though all you could actually see of the latter was a white and blue streak followed by bots exploding seemingly of their own accord. The footage changed again, focusing exclusively on the Roadrunner. She turned up the volume. 

“…since the attack of Sokovia by the robot known as Ultron,” the caster was saying. “Again, if you’re just joining us, a statement was released this morning that the new Avenger known as Quicksilver has made a complete recovery from the life-threatening wounds he received in the Battle of Sokovia. The statement credits the powers of his fellow new teammate, Charm, with his survival…”

**_Charm scrambled as fast as she could towards the downed Avenger, getting there seconds after the Captain. His chest had a hole in the left, blood spreading rapidly, but as she watched, Hawkweye started putting pressure on the wound. The leg wound didn’t seem nearly as bad._ **

**_“He’s alive,” she breathed out and it was a toss-up as to who had control then, her or Darcy._ **

**_“You pushed the jet off course,” Hakweye told her absently as he and the Captain worked on the young man. “He’s bleeding too quick, I think it hit something.”_ **

**_“Charm, freeze him.”_ **

**_“What?” she asked, blinking up when she heard Vision in her comm. He hadn’t spoken directly to her in the entire time since he’d been born._ **

**_“Your power slows down molecules,” Vision explained patiently. “It should, therefore, slow down his bleeding.”_ **

**_“But we can’t move him if I freeze him,” she argued._ **

**_“Then you just keep freezing him,” the Captain argued. “We have to try.”_ **

**_She finally nodded, held up a hand, and slowed the man’s molecules. She just hoped she didn’t make things worse._ **

“You saved his life,” Wanda said, breaking her from the memory. “Have I told you thank you yet?” 

“Only about a thousand times,” she snorted, shifting uncomfortably. “And it wasn’t me, it was Charm.” 

Wanda raised an eyebrow at her but didn’t argue with her about it again. Charm was remaining suspiciously silent as well.

According to what she’d been told, sometime during the fight, her eyes had changed from their normal blue color to a gold iris, similar to the color of the infinity gem Vision now possessed. They weren’t sure when but Steve had finally noticed when she’d let Pietro go, the doctors taking over as she let his molecules go back to normal. That wasn’t a big deal, though it was apparently permanent because when she’d given control back to Darcy, the gold had disappeared. When Darcy’d then gone back to Charm, the gold had come back.

The thing about it though was that the others had seen a completely different color when she’d been keeping Pietro frozen. Not gold, not blue, but a deep white. It hadn’t come back since.

She and Charm were pretty sure they knew why but neither had said anything to the others. Charm didn’t like having such an obvious tell and Darcy just didn’t want to deal with it right now. 

“Do you think I can go back now?” Wanda asked, mercifully changing the subject. 

“What, annoyed by my company already?” she teased and Wanda just gave her a droll look. Darcy laughed, already getting to her feet. “To answer your question, though, RoadRunner didn’t say for how long we had to stay here, just that you needed a break from his hospital room since you hadn’t left for a week.”

“We,” she corrected immediately. “We needed the break. You have been there too.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she waved it away. Wanda raised an expectant eyebrow and she groaned. “You’re gonna be horrible for my self-restraint, aren’t you?”

“Probably,” she agreed with a slight smirk. Rolling her eyes, she snagged the other brunette and dragged her after her. 

“Showers first,” she decided. “Change of clothes. Food. That way we can honestly say we took a break for the necessities. I don’t want to hear him whining again.”

“I like the way you think,” Wanda said after a moment of contemplation. 

**~~*~~**

After they’d both had showers and had changed clothes, they stopped at a little Chinese place that made the BEST wonton soup. Getting their orders to go, they headed back to the hospital wing of Avenger’s Tower. 

Helen Chow was sitting at the station Tony had set up for her when they’d first arrived with the unconscious but alive Pietro in tow. She had been feverishly working to fix the cradle from when she’d used it to make Vision and had managed it just in time to stick the speedster inside. They hadn’t wanted to use it for too long, though, the effects still relatively unknown. Add in Pietro’s enhanced biology…it was just safer to heal him enough to get him out of danger and then his own physiology do the rest. Because of Dr. Cho’s own misguided guilt, she hadn’t left the tower and wouldn’t, according to what Wanda had learned, until the elder Maximoff was completely healed. 

“How is he?” they asked the minute Dr. Cho looked back up at them. She gave an exasperated sigh but didn’t order them out like Darcy had privately feared she would. 

“Claiming he feels well enough to be out of the room,” she answered. “And to eat real food.” 

“I take it he’s not?” 

“I think soups and other soft foods should be fine for now but he’s still on a lot of narcotics for pain,” Dr. Cho answered. “Anything more and I fear it’ll return in a way not intended.

“What about wonton soup?” Darcy asked. The doctor nodded even as her stomach rumbled. Darcy smirked and handed over the second container of food she’d bought on a whim. Doctors, in her admittedly limited experience, were all too much alike. Dr. Cho accepted the container with a quiet thanks. The two women headed towards Pietro’s room and one final glance back showed Dr. Cho ravenously tearing into the meal. 

“I think I may have to take up Tony’s job offer,” she said thoughtfully. Wanda stopped and stared at her from the middle of the corridor outside Pietro’s room. 

“What job offer?” 

“Before all this began, he asked me to be the PA to all the scientists and doctors associated with the Avengers, like Jane and even him and Dr. Banner themselves,” she answered. “I did it for Jane already but I had my Masters and wanted to actually use my degree, if only to shut my mother up about how useless it would be in the real world.” 

“And you turned him down?” 

“Originally but I don’t think I’ll be able to get anything like that now, not with what’s happened,” she agreed. “And a girl’s gotta eat…and eat and eat and eat, apparently.” Seriously, she’d had to eat a ridiculous amount of food now to keep up with her metabolism.

“But to work for Tony Stark…” 

Darcy gave her a sympathetic look but let the matter drop. She knew all about the hang-ups, of course she did, and how nervous and hesitant she was around the man but in Darcy’s experience? He was definitely one of the good guys. He could just be really really moronic at times.

Case in point, Ultron. 

**Perhaps you could continue in that capacity in the Avengers complex Hawkeye mentioned,** Charm thought. **It might be a good fit for us.**

_Possibly,_ she conceded. She could do the science wrangling and Charm could do the Avenging. 

“Are you going to wait outside my room,” Pietro called. “Or are you going to come in and get yelled at like I promised I would if you came back?”

“You said you’d yell at us if we didn’t get a shower, eat, and get out of the room for a few hours,” Darcy replied as the two walked into his room without another word. 

“We have showered, eaten, and I have unpacked our things in our new apartment with Darcy,” Wanda said. “And it has been two hours.” 

“And few means two or more so…technically we did exactly what you told us to do,” Darcy finished. “It’s not our fault you weren’t more specific in your demands.” 

Pietro eyed the two of them as they took the seats that had been theirs for the better part of the week. Containers were opened, the aroma filling the room and perking everyone up. “I am going to regret your friendship, aren’t I?” he finally asked, reaching for an egg roll. 

Wanda smacked at his hand as Darcy snatched the piece of food far out of his reach. She pushed a bowl of soup towards him instead as Wanda scolded him for defying the doctors orders. 

“She said only soup,” the brunette finished. “You’re lucky we got you this.” 

“The only reason we did was because we figured it would be rude to eat this without bringing you some,” Darcy said, chewing and swallowing some lo mein. “Also, don’t touch my egg rolls.” 

“And yes, you are going to regret us being friends,” Wanda said, settling into her chair with a box of beef with broccoli. “Much less for you to get away with.”

“Or possibly just another hand to play pranks,” Barton said, poking his head in the door. “You up for a visitor?” Pietro opened his mouth to say something and Barton frowned. “I swear to god, you say something about seeing that coming and injured or not, I will smack you.” 

“I saved your life!” 

“Charm helped,” he said dryly, coming in all the way. He had a balloon, a stuffed dinosaur, a vase with flowers, and a Flash comic book, which he put on the bedside table. Pietro picked up the comic book, looking at it skeptically. Barton smirked. “Caleb’s contribution.” 

“Caleb?” Pietro and Wanda both asked. 

“My son,” he answered. “My older son, anyway. My wife’s gonna have another one. We’re gonna name him Nathaniel.”

“And what does the Black Widow think of that?” Darcy asked. She hadn’t really spoken with the woman besides a few debriefs and random conversations in the common room kitchen. It was nothing like the intro she’d been so excited for. 

“She’s just thankful I’m not asking her to be godmother again,” he laughed. “Lily’s enough for her.” 

“You finally chose then?” she asked, knowing Clint had named Maria Hill and Phil Coulson Caleb’s godparents, with Nick Fury filling the roll of godfather for Lily. Clint had told her once that watching Lily with Fury was hysterical. You’d never know it to look at him but apparently he was really good with kids. 

“I have,” Clint said, answering her question. “Laura’s completely on board with the godmother, a bit iffy on the godfather. She doesn’t know him.” 

“Oh!” Wanda said, dropping her fork and staring at Clint in surprise. Clint, for his part, just rolled his eyes. 

“You really gotta stop doing that, Princess,” he advised before turning to her. “Darce, you wanna be godmother to my little Nathaniel?” 

Darcy froze, staring at him like he’d just asked if she wanted to fly straight into the sun. “What?” she finally choked out. Pietro was laughing on the bed and Wanda was beaming at her. 

“Would you be Nathaniel’s godmother,” he repeated patiently. “And before you ask, it was Laura’s idea.” 

“But…doesn’t she want her family or friends…?” 

“Laura doesn’t have any family left and she doesn’t trust any of the friends she’s got left with my real job, let alone our kids,” Clint answered. “C’mon, kid, what do you say? Be his godmother. You’re already family.” 

“What would I have to do?” she asked suspiciously, even as she was coming round to the idea. Caleb and Lily already called her Auntie…

“Just be a guiding hand,” he assured her. He paused and then added more seriously, “and if something happens to me, help Laura with taking care of him.”

“…Alright,” she finally said, biting her lip. It wasn’t like she didn’t already plan to do that with all his kids anyway. 

“Good, Laura’ll be happy,” he said. He gave Wanda a brief wink and the brunette giggled as he then turned to her brother. “So, Roadrunner, Darcy’s godmother and you saved my life and all, you want to be godfather?” 

Pietro choked on his soup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. :)


	14. The Last Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don’t be scared now,  
> Close your eyes,  
> She holds guard tonight.  
> Go forward,  
> No remorse,  
> Life will take its course.

__**“Don’t be scared now,  
Close your eyes,  
She holds guard tonight.  
Go forward,  
No remorse,  
Life will take its course.”**

**  
Avengers Tower  
**

“They’re avoiding me, aren’t they?” 

Thor looked up at her from where he’d been reading the Harry Potter books she’d tried lending to Pietro but who Wanda had appropriated instead. The other brunette was already on the third one, eating them up slowly but surely as Darcy only had English and despite speaking the language fairly well, she didn’t read it with the same fluency. Thor had apparently gotten curious and had claimed the first one, to Pietro’s delight. He’d told her that if Thor was reading it, then he couldn’t. He hadn’t been too pleased when she’d simply found a second copy and brought it to him. It took almost an entire day but eventually he’d caved. Boredom would do that.

For his part, Thor set aside the book, carefully keeping his place with the bookmark she’d made him ages ago (which told her just how much he was enjoying them). He didn’t look surprised at the conversation or that she knew the actual Avengers were avoiding her. They’d finally had a complete session on her powers, going through everything she could do, with Cho doing a complete physical on top of it. Ever since they’d sat down and actually discussed what was done and what she remembered, all of the team except Thor and Black Widow had taken to staying away from her. 

“They feel guilty,” Thor said and Darcy blinked at him several times. 

“Asgardian say what?” Yeah, she’d suspected that was it but to have it so bluntly laid out there…

“You would not have these powers, would not have gone through this, if not for us,” Thor said. His tightly clenched fists were the only outward indication he gave as to how much he was holding himself accountable. “Strucker chose you because of your connection to the Avengers. To us.” To me was not spoken but both clearly heard it anyway. 

“So it should have been some other poor schmuck instead?” she asked skeptically. “Erik, maybe? Cause he’s such a bastion of sanity these days.”

“Though they respect him, the others do not care for Erik as they do for you so he would not have been chosen,” he reminded her. “You were because you knew we would come for you.”

“What about Betty? Or Jane, hell, Wilson? Pepper already dealt with the villain de jour trying to use her to get at someone else,” she pointed out. Pepper was specifically mentioned because while it was stable now, she still had the power of extremis coursing through her body. They had had a long talk, complete with Thor’s personal stash of alcohol, about what such a change without your permission was really like to endure. Thor didn’t look convinced, being a stubborn son of a bitch but too bad, so was she. “Fact is, big guy, all of us knew what we were getting into when we stuck around. So I got powers I wasn’t planning to get; big deal. At least I have Pepper to commiserate with.” 

“You never wanted such power,” he said, ignoring her bit about Tony’s girlfriend.

“Yeah, well, the powers aren’t so bad,” she said and he looked at her skeptically. She smiled wryly. “At the very least, stopping my peeps from doing something stupid will be a lot easier now. Jane might just have less explosions in the lab.” 

Thor couldn’t help but chuckle. 

“Point is, I don’t blame any of you,” she insisted. She glanced at the doorway, where she knew someone was eavesdropping. From the shadow, she suspected it was Steve. “And if certain people who shall remain nameless would really stop treating me like I have some catchable disease or something, that would be swell.”

Later that night, when they sat down for a team dinner Thor had demanded everyone attend, Steve, Clint, and Tony all fought over who would sit down next to her so she knew the message had been recieved. 

** Lewis-Maximoff Apartment **

The day Pietro was finally allowed to leave the hospital wing of the Tower, the girls took him straight to the apartment. Vision was already there, waiting with lunch on the table. It was odd, Darcy thought when she opened the door and found the…when she found Vision standing there in jeans and a t-shirt. Why he was wearing such clothing was a mystery to Darcy but apparently, Stark had talked him into trying to form his own…life…outside of Avenging. It would have been difficult with his appearance but apparently the Infinity Gem allowed him to alter people’s perception if he wished…so if wanted to pass as human, he could. The only ones who wouldn’t realize he wasn’t were the people who already knew the truth. 

So while someone looking in might see a perfectly normal man, the three of them saw Vision in human clothes. 

“You look uncomfortable,” she noted as Wanda hovered beside Pietro, who was looking around. 

“I am unused to such garments,” Vision said with a slight head tilt. “It shall take some getting used to.” 

“You realize you don’t have to pretend in here, right?” she asked. “The security is ridiculously tight.” 

“I will never get used to the garments if I do not wear them in my day to day life,” Vision said. “I will remain as I am until it is time for bed.” 

“Are you living here too?” Pietro asked, finally turning around from where he’d been inspecting the much more cluttered living room. Clint, having not seen how sparse her apartment was before, had apparently taken it upon himself to drag Steve, Thor, and the Black Widow around to fill it with stuff. They may have gone overboard, especially when they found out about her new roommates. 

“Darcy and Charm offered me a room when I expressed a desire to form a life for myself away from Mr. Stark,” Vision inclined his head again. He hesitated and then added, “I am looking forward to not being the only male in the dwelling.” 

Darcy and Wanda exchanged smirks. Pietro saw and snorted. 

“Have to agree, that is a plus,” he said. He clapped his hands together and looked at her, ignoring his sister. “Wanna show me my room?” 

Take him before I kill him, Wanda advised in her head. Darcy snickered but obligingly led the way. She’d been so busy with the team and her power presentation that Wanda had been the only one really around to keep Pietro occupied during his medical stay. Even the witch’s infinite patience with her twin was starting to wear thin. 

“Here we are,” she said, pushing the door across from hers and next to Vision’s open. The room was small but Wanda has assured Darcy that Pietro wouldn’t care. She, of course, had taken the second largest room and Vision’s was about the same size as Pietro’s. He and Vision would share a bathroom (despite several late evening/night attempts to find out, neither Darcy nor Wanda knew if Vision actually needed the bathroom). Both rooms were mirror images of each other. The main difference was really in the furniture and decorations themselves—and Darcy didn’t plan to tell anyone that Stark had paid for it all which was why Vision had all black iron and red and green accents, Wanda had various bronze and reds, and Pietro had silver and blues. 

“This is…all mine?” he asked, coming out of where he’d poked his head in the bathroom door. 

“Yup,” she agreed. “Clint and Steve went and bought the clothes but Wanda approved of them all too.” 

Pietro blinked and a worried look crossed his face before he sped over to inspect the dressers. Darcy’s eyebrows hit her hairline as within seconds the bed was covered in clothing. 

_I am not his mother, I am not his mother, he is a grown man…_

**I would hope so,** Charm said, having until now been remarkably silent. **Otherwise our interest in him would probably not be acceptable.**

_Ew._

“Do I want to know what you and Charm are talking about?” he asked, looking warily at her from where he was now standing a few feet away. His clothes were still where he left them. 

“You can tell I was talking with Charm?” she asked, surprised. Wanda, sure, given her own telepathy but him…?

“You get this expression,” he said, reaching out and stopping just shy of actually touching her cheek. He brought his hand up to run through his hair, obviously trying to pass it off. “It is an obvious tell, if one knows to look.” 

“And you know to look,” she said. He smirked. “Oooh boy…”

Talk to him,Wanda advised in her head. We will not have much more privacy after today.

_Wait, what?_

Hawkeye, the Captain, and Thor plan to periodically ‘pop in’ to check up on us, she answered. Starting tomorrow at nine.

_PM?_ she asked hopefully. Charm snickered. 

No.

“Remind me to have a bucket of ice cold water waiting over the front door tomorrow at nine,” she ordered of the man. He looked bemusedly at her and she shrugged. “I am not a morning person.” 

“You really aren’t,” he agreed. That made Darcy pause and actually think of the past month or so and how much they both knew about the other. It was more than any of her exes had ever known. 

**He also knows of me and is willing to try with both of us,** Charm said. **It does not…disgust him.**

_Cause you’re not disgusting, just quirky,_ Darcy replied. _But yeah, poiint in his favor._

“I still intend to take you out to dinner,” he said abruptly, as if knowing where the two women’s conversation had gone. He paused and then added wryly, “Once I have the money of course. Which means a job.” 

“Preferably one that does not include stealing,” Wanda agreed, coming into the room. She looked between the two of them before huffing in agravation. She ppointed at her brother. “I will get you the money to take her out. You will go because you want to and you need to. No arguements.” 

With that, she walked out of the room muttering under her breath in what Darcy was pretty sure was Sokovian. Pietro had paled a bit when she turned to him. 

“Do I want to know what she’s saying?” 

“It is not for your ears,” he said with a wince. 

Be ready for your first date Friday at 7, Wanda announced in her head. Pietro must have had something similar thrown at him because he began muttering in Sokovian to himself. It finally ended when he shouted something through the open doorway. Wanda just laughed. 

** Avengers Tower, Steve Rogers’ Apartment **

“I still can’t believe you didn’t at least tell me the full extent of this.” 

“Steve, I couldn’t tell you,” Darcy said, not for the first time. “I needed to help fix my mistake. I mean, I helped Ultron for Thor’s sake!” 

“No, you didn’t, you had nothing to do with—” 

**And he’s off. Again.** Charm sighed in her head as Steve started lecturing her about HYDRA. He’d been like this for almost an hour now, since she’d finally sat him down to tell him the truth about her and Charm and just how deeply it actually went. Of course, he was a smart man and had pretty much figured most of it out (not to mention she’d already sort of told him) but it was this point, this little piece, he just wasn’t letting go of. He was like a damn dog with a bone. Charm frowned. **Can I try?**

_Be my guest, he won’t listen to me,_ Darcy grumbled. It was a testament to the amount of time they’d been practicing with Wanda and Thor that she didn’t slump over this time when they switched. The only indication that Charm was now in control was that her eyes had turned gold. _Have I mentioned how cool that is? People other than Pietro and Wanda can tell when it’s you._

**I thought you said it made you feel like you had a snake parasite in your head, like on that TV show you like.**

_Yeah, well, it does,_ she agreed as Steve continued in his lecture, seemingly oblivious. _Doesn’t mean it’s not cool. Also, useful._

“…and really, Charm, you know as well as I do how crucial that piece of information could have been in the battle,” the Captain said, frowning at her. “Also, Darcy, you can’t hide forever—you have to take control again sometime and when we do, this conversation is not over.”

Charm’s lips quirked as Darcy just groaned. “You noticed,” she said quietly. 

“Yeah, well, I’m not as stupid as some people would really really like me to be,” he said with a dry look at her. Darcy cringed and Charm laughed. “It’s not your fault either you know.” 

Charm cocked an eyebrow at him. “I, unlike Darcy, did exactly what I was told to do by HYDRA,” she argued calmly. “I am much more culpable.” 

“You said it yourself, you were told to do it and you didn’t know any better,” he disagreed. “You were a mindless drone at the time—” 

“Not when I was with the twins in the Church or helping to steal the Cradle,” she broke in. The complete loyalty to HYDRA they had programmed had already been tearing down in the church and had been completely gone when they’d gone for the Cradle. She’d been her own person by that time. She’d chosen to stay with the twins and ultimately, with Ultron. 

“Everyone makes mistakes,” he said, waving it away. “It was neither one of yours faults. If anyone’s at fault, it’s me.”

“What?!”

He glanced at her eyes and smiled. “Good, thought that might get both of you out.” 

Charm and Darcy reared back in their seat a bit, looking uncertain. “You…”

“I figured something was going on and since Barton confirmed the eye color for the two of you, I thought the white I saw when you were working on Pietro might mean it was both of you in control or at least working in tandem.” 

“We can’t hold it for very long,” Charm said, it having already faded. He looked disappointed. “What?” she asked warily. 

_Bucky,_ Darcy said quietly. _He was hoping it would be something he could use for Bucky._

**Oh.**

The room was quiet for several minutes save for their breathing and the steady ticking of the clock. Finally, Darcy spoke up. _I think I have an idea that could work for both of us and give us time to figure out a system for this._ She outlined it carefully. Charm was a bit surprised she’d managed to keep it from her for this long; it was obviously well thought out.

Charm listened intently, finding no flaws in the plan except one. **And how would we fund this?**

_We’ll bug Stark,_ she shrugged. _I figure he owes Cap one…not to mention us._

“Captain,” Charm said aloud, catching his attention from where it had wandered. “What are your plans now?” 

“I’m taking over the Avengers at the new facility, since Tony’s stepping down completely,” he answered, shaking off most of the melancholy he’d dived into. He focused on them solidly. “And I wanted to talk to you two about that actually. The twins and Vision have already decided to join the new team.” 

“And we’ve already decided to join if you’ll have us,” Charm told him. He smiled, looking relieved. Like they were really letting the twins get into this on their own—Vision too. Charm gave a wry smile. “But we have to get control of ourselves first and Darcy really needs to figure out how to use both of our powers, not just the freezing.” 

“How much time do you need?” he nodded. Charm’s eyes faded back to blue as Darcy took back over.

“Depends,” she said with a smile. “How long do you think it’ll take us to find a world war two soldier with a metal arm?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue left folks! If you're interested in a sequel, please let me know!


	15. Swan Song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In my heart I know I can let go.  
> In the end I will find some peace inside.  
> New wings are growing tonight.

_**“In my heart I know I can let go.  
In the end I will find some peace inside.  
New wings are growing tonight.”** _

**  
New Avengers Facility, Upstate New York  
**

Darcy and Charm both liked the new Avengers facility. Charm thought it was a good place to organize and stage rescue and protect missions from. Darcy liked it because it was shiny and had almost all of her favorite people in it. 

The two of them had gone along for the new team’s first day of training. The twins, Vision, Sam, and Rhodey would be there for about a month, with breaks on the weekend, as they did initial training as a team. While they would all have rooms for when they were there, Steve had been adamant that they not be stuck there at all times. Therefore, unless working, Wanda, Pietro, and Vision would continue living in the apartment while Darcy hunted down the only other person she knew of that had had the ‘Chair of Agony, zero stars, would not do again’ experience.

Sam had gratefully handed over all the leads he had, almost all of them arctic cold. A few were lukewarm but she and Charm were pretty sure they’d be dead-ends too. Luckily, while going through the HYDRA files that Stark still had, Darcy had come across an interesting little tidbit that had somehow not been noticed by JARVIS or Tony. She decided, after realizing just how badly this might go over with the original six, to keep it to herself until she knew more. In the meantime, it gave her a starting point. 

“…and here’s your expense card,” Tony said, handing over one of the once-thought-mythical black cards. “Even if you go nuts, you can’t hit the limit. Please don’t try though cause Pepper made it very clear it would not be you on the line.” 

“Right, max it out and your girlfriend will give you hell.” 

“I am much too handsome to do paperwork,” he informed her.

“Keep telling yourself that,” she snorted. 

Tony gave her a look, reaching for the card again. “On second thought…”

**Darcy, no,** Charm said as her eyes narrowed and her hand came up.

_Darcy, yes,_ she snickered, freezing him. As Charm sighed, Darcy took the time to stuff the card in her purse and grab the car keys still in his grasp. Then, once everything was secure, she waved a hand and watched as he blinked at his now empty hands.

“You didn’t.”

“I totally love this power,” she informed him as Pepper came over and joined them. Tony turned to her with a pout that would not be uncommon on a five year old.

“Pepper, tell her it’s not fair to freeze me!” 

“Would you rather she blow you up?” Tony was definitely not getting any sympathy from that corner. Darcy had to wonder if she’d heard what he’d said.

“I hate you all,” he declared in a huff before stalking out.

“Diva,” she snickered again. Pepper laughed. 

“Good luck, Darcy,” she said. She paused and then added, “And Charm.” 

“Thanks, Pep,” she said and the two women hugged. “We should get going.” 

“Tony gave you the card and the keys to the car, right?” It had been Tony’s idea to get her a new car, under an assumed name, to use in the search. They didn’t know how many HYDRA cells knew about her so they were erring on the side of caution. 

Darcy smirked. “Define ‘gave.’”

Pepper just shook her head, muttered something about karma biting Tony in the ass, and gave her another quick hug before jogging to catch up with her boyfriend. 

She and Charm had already said goodbye to their roommates, Thor, Barton, and the rest of the team. She had outlined her plan and they’d agreed on daily check-ins, if nothing else because it would ease his mind about losing her. Thor had apparently been pretty inventive in what he would do if she somehow got taken again while he was back on Asgard. She just knew she’d be under the watchful eye of Heimdall, if she wasn’t already. 

Darcy slipped into the car, throwing her purse in the backseat. She adjusted her seat and mirrors and had just been about to head out when the passenger side door opened.

“Leaving without me?” Pietro asked, stuffing a duffel bag in the backseat and slipping into the front. She gaped at him as he adjusted his seat belt. “What?”

“I…you…Wanda…Avengers?” 

“Like we’re really letting you go out searching for the Winter Soldier without someone to watch your back,” he snorted. 

“Charm—” 

“Will be too busy watching your front,” he interrupted. She ignored Charm’s amused agreement to watch him smirk. “Now, where we off to first?”

She stared at him for several more seconds. “Wanda?” 

“Is happy I’ll be someone else’s problem for a few months,” he replied cheerfully. “Her words, not mine.”

_Wanda?!_ she sent out. 

You are not leaving without someone to watch your back, the witch answered firmly. Now go, before I decide this Avenger’s thing is a terrible idea and join you too.

**It makes sense to have someone else with us,** Charm noted as Wanda’s presence faded. **I am not opposed.**

_Of course you’re not,_ she snorted. Shaking her head, she shifted the car into drive. She knew when she was beat. She looked at her…boyfriend? Friend she’d gone on a date with? They needed to define the terms sometime soon, before it gave her a headache. “Fine, you can come,” she told him and he gave her a smug grin. Her eyes narrowed. “But it’s accompany and observe, not participate and annoy, got it?”

“Participate and annoy is a lot more fun, but alright,” he agreed easily. Too easily. She sighed as she eased out of the Avengers facility parking lot and down the tree lined road to the highway. She was totally going to regret this. 

“First stop?” he asked again once they were on the highway. She reached back, rummaged around, and then threw the file she’d hidden in her purse at him. He opened it to find a picture of a bland, nondescript man in a standard-issue SHIELD suit staring back up at him. 

“We’re going to find a dead man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! a HUGE thanks to everyone who gave kudos, bookmarked, reviewed, or even just read this fic! a sequel is in the works but I will not begin posting it until I have at least half written. :) So keep an eye out! In the meantime, I'm making this a series so, if you want, you can subscribe to that and get an alert when I finally do post it. Thanks again everyone!


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